Healing the Heart
by Kksaunt1
Summary: Jack is a trained Chef and Elizabeth is a pediatrician in Boston. Both want a family of their own but neither have found the right person. Little do they know, that person is closer than they think.
1. Chapter 1

Boston, Massachusetts

"Order up!" Jack yelled through the window.

"Got it!" Clara said, balancing the newly made dishes on her tray before scurrying off to deliver them to her customers.

Jack watched as she placed the chicken salad wrap and onion rings down in front of the doc. The beautiful doctor that made a daily visit and always ordered the same thing. Chicken salad wrap, no walnuts, onion rings on the side.

He watched until he saw her smile up at Clara. That smile was what got him through until he saw her again the next day.

"Two meatloaf with mashed potatoes, one fried chicken with mac and cheese and a Caesar salad, no dressing," Clara announced, hanging another order slip.

"Got it. Give me ten," he told her.

"Thanks, Chef."

Jack wished she wouldn't call him that. Sure, technically he was a chef, but it was a diner by a hospital. 90% of the customers worked at the hospital. He just made their food.

No, a chef was what he had gone to culinary school to be. What he was saving all his money to become, in his own restaurant where he served what he chose, not what had been picked for him and placed on a plastic covered menu.

He chose to live in a one bedroom apartment with his bulldog, Shrimp, so that he could save every last penny and put it toward the restaurant of his dreams.

He even had a partner who was also a chef that was going to split the cost 50/50. Lee had been his best friend since middle school. They grew up together and went to culinary school together and had agreed that they would one day own a restaurant together. Jack could see the light at the end of the tunnel. He had been saving for the last ten years and he was tantalizingly close.

"Order up!"

Elizabeth finished her meal and stood to leave a few moments later. She looked over at the door and saw Faith coming towards her, a worried look on her face.

"Beth, it's Joy. She's taken a turn."

"What? No!"

Jack looked up when she yelled and ran out the door. He wondered what had caused her to get so upset. He knew he would never find out but he wondered just the same.

….

Elizabeth sat down in the doctor's lounge and tried to pull herself together. Joy, the eight year old with pneumonia she had been treating, had passed away. She couldn't believe it. She had been doing pretty well and then the antibiotics stopped working.

On days like this, she wondered why she chose this profession. But then, she remembered that children mattered to her. She wanted to help as many as she could.

On the flip side, if she found a good guy who had a good job and wanted a family as bad as she did, she would quit in a heartbeat to be a full time mom. She wanted at least two. She didn't care which gender. She just wanted her children to always have someone to play with like she had.

"Dr. Thatcher to pedes desk. Dr. Thatcher to pedes desk," the page said.

She took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes before getting up and heading back to work. Four more hours left in her shift and then she could drown her sorrows in chocolate.

…..

She got home only an hour later than normal. As soon as she walked into her small two bedroom house, she fed her gold fish and started a hot bubble bath. Then she changed into her robe and went to grab a piece of chocolate lava cake she had bought from the bakery and took it into the bathroom with her.

She lowered the lights and slipped under the bubbles after turning on her "bath playlist." This was exactly what she needed. She loved baths and music and chocolate so her tension and sadness started slowly easing.

Until the reality of what Joy's parents were going through hit her again. She let herself cry until she had no more tears. It was cathartic really. She couldn't let her tears show at the hospital. She needed to be strong and not emotional.

She got out and headed to bed, turning on a movie that would make her laugh. Then her phone buzzed.

"Hey, Faith."

"Hey, Beth. How are you?"

"Oh you know."

"Yeah, I do. Do you want some company?"

"No. You stay home with Carson. I'll be fine."

"Carson is working tonight. I would be happy to come over."

Elizabeth didn't want to be alone, it was just what she always was. Her friends were all married so she was alone. It wasn't how she wanted it but that was reality.

"See you in ten," Faith told her, hanging up.

Ten minutes later, Elizabeth opened the door for her friend and accepted her hug as she cried yet again. "I'm sorry, Faith. I don't know how I could still have tears left in me."

"Don't apologize, Beth. Losing a patient, not to mention a child, is one of the hardest things to go through. I've been through it myself."

They sat down on the couch. "I wish I had someone to talk to, Faith."

"You have me."

"No, I know. I mean…I want to come home to someone. I'm so lonely." She mopped her eyes as she cried.

"Have you prayed about it, Beth?"

"No."

"You need to do that. He wants to know how you feel about things. He wants you to know that He is there for you but if you don't ask, you won't feel it."

"Okay, so I pray, and then what?"

"Keep your eyes open. You never know what or who may be around the corner."

…..

Elizabeth went to work the next day as planned, but her heart was hurting. She was still mourning the loss of Joy and she knew it would take a while to get past it.

When she went to lunch at the diner, she ordered the same thing she always did. She realized then that she was in a rut.

When her food was delivered, there was a note on a napkin that Clara gave her.

It said, "I hope you are having a good day."

"Clara? Who is this from?"

"I'm sworn to secrecy," she said with a wink.

Elizabeth looked around trying to see if anyone was looking at her. There wasn't anyone making eye contact.

Jack waited to look up until he knew she was eating. He saw her rereading the napkin and smile. That's what he wanted. To bring a little sunshine to her day.

"That was very sweet of you, Chef," Clara told him after they closed.

"It's Jack. I thought she could use some cheering up."

"Well, you did."

"Good," he said with a grin.

"It's obvious you like her. Why not ask her out?"

"I'm kind of out of practice," he admitted. "It's been a long time."

"I bet she would say yes. She doesn't wear a ring."

"That doesn't mean she's not seeing someone already."

"You'll never know unless you ask."

….

The next day, about the time she usually ate lunch, he watched as she walked in, alone as usual, in her pale pink scrubs.

Clara took her order and brought it over. "Grilled cheese on Texas Toast and fries, Chef."

"What?"

"Grilled cheese…"

"I heard but she only gets the chicken salad wrap and onion rings. I already have it ready."

"Sorry, Chef. She changed things up, I guess."

"Okay. Well, give me ten."

"Will do."

This time his note said, "Your lovely smile lights up the room."

Again she looked around and didn't see anyone watching her.

"Clara?"

"Yeah, Doc?"

"Just Beth. Um, can you at least give me a hint who this is from?"

"Nope. But maybe sit at the counter when you come in next time. Just a thought." Clara winked and walked away.

Elizabeth looked up at the red stools at the long counter. Then her eyes drifted toward the open window in the wall where she could see a very handsome man in an apron grinning at another person, showcasing his deep dimples.

She quickly dismissed the idea that he could be the one sending her notes on napkins. With a face that sexy, someone had to have snatched him up already. She would however take Clara's advice. At the very least, sitting there would give her a closer view of the chef.

….

So, the next morning at seven am when her twenty four hour shift was over, she walked into the diner and sat at the counter.

"Early today," Clara mentioned as she stood in front of her.

"I just got off my shift. Twice a month I work a few long shifts. Now I am starving."

"What can I get you?"

"Blueberry pancakes, bacon, and orange juice please."

"No coffee?"

"No, I need to sleep. Thank you though."

Elizabeth opened her kindle app on her phone and tried to concentrate on the book she never actually had time to read.

When her food arrived, a note was there which said, simply, "Hi!"

She smiled and looked up at the window to the kitchen. He smiled back. Good heavens. It was him?

"Enjoy your food," he told her with a wink.

Then she noticed her pancakes. The blueberries had been formed into a smiley face. She looked at him again and couldn't help herself. "Thank you."

"Of course."

The diner slowed down for about thirty minutes and she was the only one in there. She wished he would come out to talk to her since he wasn't cooking any meals but he stayed in the kitchen and spoke to whomever else was back there.

She went home and fell asleep almost immediately when her head hit her pillow.

Her phone rang about noon, waking her out of a sound sleep. It took her a moment to realize what was happening and by that time, it had stopped ringing.

She looked at the screen. One missed call from Julie. Her sister lived in the city too but she was a lawyer in their father's firm and worked almost as much as Elizabeth. As a result, they didn't see each other very much at all.

She called her back. "Hey, Beth."

"Hey, Jules."

"Are you at work?"

"No, I did that last night. I was asleep."

"I'm sorry. I can call back but I just wanted to pass on a message from Mom and Dad."

Elizabeth sighed. She knew what was coming. A dinner invitation. She didn't want to go but she would be expected to. "What's that?"

"Dinner at their house this Saturday at six pm."

She wanted to come up with some excuse but she couldn't even use the one that she had to work. She didn't. She actually had the weekend off. "Fine."

"It won't be that bad."

"You are married and have a child. You are perfect in their eyes, Julie. I have neither of those things so I will be on the spot and Mom will drop dozens of hints that I need to get right on that before my time runs out. I just don't want to deal with it."

"So bring someone."

Elizabeth's mind immediately went to Mr. Dimples in the diner. The issue was, she didn't even know him so she absolutely couldn't ask him to be subjected to a Thatcher dinner.

"I don't have anyone to bring."

"No one? Not even a friend from work? That place is crawling with doctors. I'm sure there is someone cute that would go with you."

"I am not asking a coworker to come to my family dinner. I will just need to suck it up and deal with it alone. I should be used to it by now."

"Suit yourself. See you, Saturday."

"See you."

Instead of going to sleep, she tossed and turned, her mind still going back to the chef. What were the chances that he would actually go with her? Yes, he flirted with her by sending her notes and he had winked, so maybe he was interested but to meet her family before going on a first date with her didn't seem a possibility.

Well, it was Tuesday. She had a few days. Maybe she could get up the courage and ask him out.


	2. Chapter 2

Wednesday

At lunch, Elizabeth made her way to the diner and sat at the counter again. Mr. Dimples looked up and grinned. Sweet gravy goodness! He was so adorable.

"Good afternoon," he said.

"Hi."

"Getting your usual today?" he wondered.

"I don't know, I really liked the grilled cheese from the other day."

Clara walked up. "Hey there, Beth. How's your day going?"

"Pretty good. Just trying to decide what to have to eat. I think I will go with the Tuna Melt with fries."

She looked at the chef and smiled and he rewarded her with a laugh. Yeah, she definitely was enjoying the flirting.

After she ate her food, she left her tip and walked away. Clara headed into the kitchen and handed him the napkin that Beth had handed her to give to the chef.

"For you, Chef," Clara said.

He looked down and smiled. "Hi. Call me sometime, 729-555-7616- Beth." He definitely would get in touch with her.

So that night, he texted, hoping he wasn't waking her up as it was almost midnight. "Hey, it's Jack from the diner."

After a while, she hadn't responded so he figured she must have fallen asleep. In the morning, he woke up, picked up his phone and he had a text. "Sorry, I fell asleep. Will I see you at lunch?"

He had the day off so he wasn't going to be there to cook, but he was going to make sure he was there to hopefully eat lunch with her. "Yep! I will be there."

At around noon, Elizabeth walked in to the diner and sat down at the counter. When she looked up to meet his eye, there was someone else standing where Mr. Dimples, or Jack, always had.

Feeling a bit disappointed, she checked her phone to see if he had texted but there was no message.

"Beth?"

She turned to look who had said her name. "Jack?"

"Yeah. I have a booth. Would you like to join me?"

"You're not cooking?"

"My day off," he said with a grin. "We don't have to eat together…I just thought it might be nice."

"I want to. I have about forty minutes left." They walked to the booth and sat down. "I can't believe that you want to eat here when you are here every day," she mentioned.

"Well, it's not a big deal. I know the food is good."

"Yeah it is."

"And I knew you would be here."

"We could have met somewhere else."

"Next time."

Before she could respond, Clara came up and grinned knowingly at them. "Good afternoon, Doc, Chef."

"Afternoon, Clara," Elizabeth greeted.

"What can I get you?"

"Grilled cheese, fries and a diet soda," Elizabeth ordered.

"Okay. Chef?"

"Just Jack, Clara. I will have the Chef's salad, French dressing on the side please. No tomato."

"And to drink?"

"Water, please."

Jack looked up and met Elizabeth's eyes. "What?"

"Your order…it explains a lot."

"What does it explain, Doc?"

She blushed and stared at her hands. "Nothing. Forget I said anything." There was no way she was blurting that he looked good. Better than she imagined, actually.

"Hm. Well, since we don't know each other well, I won't push."

"I appreciate that," she told him, her cheeks taking on an even darker tint. She was grateful that Clara showed up right then with their drinks. That way, she had something to do other than get lost in his sparkly green eyes.

"So, Beth, what type of doctor are you?"

"I specialize in pediatrics."

"I bet that can be difficult sometimes. Seeing children suffering."

"It is, but most of the time, seeing them get better outweighs the suffering."

He noticed the tears filling her eyes and that reminded him of the bad day she had had the previous week. He reached over and covered her hand with his. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't. I….know we aren't supposed to get attached to them but…"

"Hang on. Who says you aren't supposed to get attached?"

"Everyone…as doctors, if we get too attached….we end up like me. Miserable and sad and lonely."

She couldn't believe she just said that to a guy she barely knew.

"I'm sorry, Jack. Let's talk about something else." She wiped her cheeks and looked away.

"Do you want to take a walk with me?"

"What about our food?"

"We can come back." He stood and motioned for Clara. "We will be right back."

When they walked outside, Elizabeth took a few deep breaths as they strolled.

"What happened, Beth?"

"A little girl. She came in because she had pneumonia and I prescribed medicine and I thought she was getting better." Elizabeth took a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes and nose.

"Did she get better?" He wanted to hug her but the truth was they didn't know each other. He couldn't just pull her into his arms as if they'd dated for a month or two, so he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"No. She didn't make it."

"That's not your fault, Beth. You did everything you could." He touched her wrists and held her hands for a moment. "Its not your fault," he repeated.

"I couldn't save her. I can't even imagine what her parents are going through

As badly as she wanted children, it seemed almost inconceivable to lose a child of her own. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. I don't even know you." It felt like she had known him forever but she didn't even know his last name.

"Jack Thornton," he said, sticking his hand out.

She smiled at that and shook his hand. "Elizabeth Thatcher, but everyone calls me Beth."

"Well, Elizabeth Thatcher, let's go eat our food and we can get to know each other a bit more."

The next fifteen minutes went by fast. They found out more about each other's jobs and realized it would be hard to find time to be in each other's company because of their schedules so they would just try to text and see each other when she came in for lunch.

Jack walked her to the door of the hospital when it was time for her to return.

"Thanks for walking me back."

"My pleasure, Beth."

…..

Elizabeth shook her head as she made her way inside to the elevator and took it up to the fourth floor. As she walked to the pediatric unit, Faith caught up to her.

"Hey, lady. How was your lunch?"

"Really great actually," she said with a smile.

"Wow, that's good. What did you have? I think I want some of the same if it put you in that good of a mood."

"Well, it wasn't what I ate, it was who I ate it with."

Elizabeth stepped into the lounge and Faith followed her. "You ate with someone?"

"Yeah." Elizabeth blushed.

"Hm. Pretty cute, huh?"

"You have no idea." She grabbed her stethoscope, looped it around the back of her neck and smiled. "Back to work."

"Um, I think I need to know who you were with, Beth."

"I'll tell you later."

"You better!" Faith said as she walked away.

Elizabeth was definitely going to tell Faith mostly because she needed advice. She had poured her heart out to Jack and cried, of all things. Regardless of the fact that she had just learned his last name, she felt drawn to him, like she could tell him anything and he would listen. That he would be more than willing to be her friend. She needed to know if she was completely insane.

…..

Jack called his mom after he got home from lunch. He called her on his day off every week and since she lived in Seattle, a phone call was all that could happen.

"Hey, Ma."

"Jack, good to hear from you, son."

"You too, Ma. How's Bill?"

"Doing well. How are you?"

"Good. Better than good actually."

"Why is that?"

"I met someone."

Jack held the phone away from his ear so that his mom's squealing with glee didn't burst his eardrum.

"You done?" he asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, sorry. Oh, sweetheart, I am so happy for you. What's her name?"

"Beth. Beth Thatcher and she is a doctor."

"Oh, really? At Boston Memorial?"

"Yeah. She comes in for lunch every day at the diner. Today was the first time we met face to face, or at least without a window between us."

"And what did you think?"

"I really like her, Ma. Which is weird because I hardly know her but something inside me is telling me that we are supposed to be together. Is that even possible?"

"That's how I felt about your father."

"She's beautiful, Ma, and she works in pediatrics."

"So future grandchildren are a possibility?" Charlotte squealed again.

"Easy there, Ma. We had one lunch. Don't plan a wedding yet."

"All right. Can you blame me, Jack? It's been quite a while for you."

"I know. I was waiting for the right person."

"And you think Beth Thatcher is that person?"

"If what my heart is telling me is any indication, yeah."

….

Elizabeth got off work around five pm and checked her phone. She had a text from Jack.

"I was thinking of going 2 see a movie. Wanna join me?"

Elizabeth quickly asked. "Like a date?"

"It doesn't have 2 b."

"I'll go. A date is good."

"How long do u need 2 get ready?"

"Just got off. So maybe an hour?"

"Do u want me to pick u up?"

"I'll meet u."

"Okay. Do you want 2 go 2 the Showcase Cinema?"

"Yes. I will c u soon. ;)"

"Ok!"

Elizabeth smiled and hurried to her car, but on the way, Faith stopped her. "You're in a hurry. I was hoping you would tell me about mystery man."

"I need to get home, Faith. I have a date! I'll call you later."

"You better!"

Elizabeth walked into her house and took a shower, making sure to use her vanilla body wash and shampoo.

Then she stood in her closet, wrapped in a towel, stumped.

The majority of her things were scrubs, and t-shirts that she wore with yoga pants around the house with the exception of two dresses and two pairs of jeans. She never dated, or hadn't in about five years when Charlie Kensington, her former fiancé, had decided marrying her was less exciting than being with her best friend Anna. Now they were married, and according to Facebook, were expecting their first child.

The first year or so after he ended things, she had a rough time. Then, she met Faith. Faith helped her realize that dwelling on her broken heart would not solve anything. There was someone out there for her and when she found him, it would be one hundred times better than being with Charlie had been. Was it Jack? Is he supposed to be her "only one"?

"You'll never find out if you don't get dressed and get to your date!" she told herself.

So, deciding to just be herself, she grabbed a light pink sweater and a pair of dark jeans and got dressed. Then she added lip gloss, mascara, and a pair of silver earrings and pulled on her tennis shoes.

"If he doesn't like the way I look when I'm just being me, he isn't the right one," she told herself again.

….

She didn't need to worry. As soon as she walked in the door to the theater, his heart did a weird little flip flop. She was curvy in the all right places, her dark jeans, teasing him. Her black leather jacket and pink sweater were perfect.

He walked over and kissed her cheek. "Evening, Beth. You look beautiful." It was cliché and an understatement but he went with it.

"Thank you. You look great too."

His black leather jacket matched hers and looked great with his khakis and blue polo.

He offered his hand and they walked closer to choose their movie. "What looks good to you?" he wondered.

"I have been wanting to see the new Spiderman movie," she admitted.

"Perfect." He grinned, paid for their tickets and then they headed to the food line. "Do you want popcorn?" he asked.

"Yeah. Extra butter and a diet soda."

It baffled him that she could look so fit and good, eating like she did. He wasn't complaining and he wouldn't mention it, but on their next date, he might suggest his favorite vegetarian restaurant and introduce her to tofu and sprouts.


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth sat in her car in her parents driveway. She looked left and saw Julie and her husband, Mike's minivan. To the right was Vi and her boyfriend Matthew's Prius. She was alone. She hadn't felt like she and Jack were at a point where she could ask him to join her at the family dinner.

Her phone buzzed with a text.

"U coming in?" Julie asked.

"Yeah."

Elizabeth got out of her car and straightened her dress, smoothing the wrinkles out to make sure she was presentable.

She walked up the cobblestone walkway and rang the bell.

Grace opened the door, Julie and Mike's son, Simon on her hip. "Beth, come in."

"Thank you, Mom."

Elizabeth walked in and hung her coat on the large ornate coat rack by the entryway.

Simon reached his chubby arms toward Elizabeth and she gladly took him. "Hi, Si! How is my little man?"

Simon, or Si, was thirteen months old. He had reddish brown hair and blue eyes and she loved him to pieces.

"Its time to eat, Beth," Grace told her walking away.

"Good to see you too, Mother. Yes, I'm doing fine. I even met someone," she mumbled under her breath.

"Beth," Grace said from the kitchen.

"Coming!" she said, dutifully. "Let's chow, Si. What do you think?"

Si clapped his hands and grinned which made her giggle.

Dinner was filled with wedding plans, because apparently Vi and Matthew were engaged, and stories about all the new things Si was learning. Beth ate in silence because she didn't have much to share.

"Beth?"

Julie elbowed her. "Ouch! What, Jules?"

"Mom asked if you were seeing anyone."

Elizabeth gazed at her mother and then at everyone else at the table. Then she blurted, "As a matter of fact, yes. I am seeing someone."

"Its about time," Grace responded. "What's his name?"

"Jack Thornton." She took a sip of water and then a bite of chocolate cake.

"Where did you meet him?" Julie wondered.

"He's a chef at the diner next to the hospital. I eat there everyday."

"A chef at a diner?" William asked, his obvious dislike of anything other than expensive food apparent.

"Yes. He's very talented." And adorable and kind and his eyes are mesmerizing, she neglected to add.

"Is he cute?" Vi asked, getting a look from Matthew. "What? It's a fair question."

"Yes, he's handsome."

"Well, we can meet him next weekend," Grace said.

"Next weekend? I work next weekend," Elizabeth informed her, thankful for small favors.

"Its your father's birthday dinner, Beth."

And she was expected to be there. "I can see if someone will work for me, I guess."

"Good. We will meet him Sunday night."

….

When she finally left her childhood home, she sat in the car and texted Jack. She knew he was working so she didn't expect an answer for a few hours.

"Just so u know, my family wants 2 meet u. Next Sunday. U can say no if u want. No pressure."

She put her phone in her purse and drove home, ready to sleep. Well, that was her intention, but instead of driving to her house, she drove to the diner.

She went inside and her eyes immediately found him in the kitchen. He looked up and grinned.

She smiled back and sat down at the counter.

Jack thought she looked beautiful. Her burgundy wrap dress, cinching at her waist and accentuating her curves perfectly.

"No drooling in the food, man," Jimmy the sous chef told him.

"Jimmy, shush."

"She's pretty," he told Jack.

"Gorgeous, actually."

"Maybe I should ask her out."

"Too late, man. I already did."

"Right on. Good for you."

It was good for him. Thursday night, he had gone to sleep dreaming of her laugh and the way she leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders in the theater. The way her smaller, delicate hand fit perfectly inside his. And she smelled like spicy vanilla, his new favorite scent next to baking bread and apples and cinnamon.

"Jack, if you don't pay attention, you're going to overcook this pasta."

"Can you take over for me, Jim? I need to take a break?"

"Huh? You never take a break."

"I'm on my ten," Jack told him, walking through the kitchen door and behind the counter. "Hi, Beth."

"Hey," she said with a smile.

"I didn't expect to see you tonight. Don't you work early tomorrow?"

"Yeah but I was at my parent's for dinner."

"So you ate dinner and now you're here." He leaned on the counter and touched her hand. "You want dessert?"

"I already had cake."

"Coffee?"

"I'll never sleep."

"I give up."

"I sent you a text but I thought maybe I should tell you in person." Plus, she wanted to see him.

"Tell what?" He stroked the top of her hand with his thumb, distracting her. Or maybe that was his eyes.

"I um…sort of told my family about you and now they want to meet you. Next Sunday."

"Great."

"Great?"

"Yeah. I'm up for it."

"You don't know my family."

"Tell me about them," he prompted.

"What time do you get off?"

"We close at ten. So, one more hour."

"I'll just wait here. I've been wanting to read this book I started. I don't usually have the time. Now I guess I have an hour," she said with a smile.

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and headed back in the kitchen.

….

Jack sat down with a sigh across from Elizabeth in a booth.

"We don't have to talk tonight. I'm sure you're tired."

"My feet are tired but I'd love to learn more about you, Beth, and that trumps tired feet." He grabbed her hand in both of his.

"My family? Well, my father owns Thatcher Industries."

"Whoa. Your dad is William Thatcher?"

"The one and the same."

Jack knew Thatcher Industries was one of the largest shipping companies in Boston, if not all of Massachusetts.

"Jack?"

"Oh, um. Sorry."

"Maybe this was a bad idea," she told him, removing her hand from his, placing it in her lap. "Usually hearing who my dad is sends guys running to the hills."

"I'm not running, Beth. I'm right here. I'm just processing." He held out his hands. "May I have your hand back?"

She stared at him for a moment and returned her hand to the comfort of his.

"Now, I'm listening."

"Well, he and my mother….let's just say, they want more grandchildren and in order for that to happen, they are constantly on me to date and get married."

"How many grandchildren do they have?"

"One. My sister Julie and her husband have a little boy, Simon. My other sister, Vi, is engaged so that means all the pressure is on me."

"That must be tough sometimes."

"Yeah. I feel like the odd woman out whenever I go over there. As if I'm not good enough."

"Beth, I'm sure that's not true. You're a good doctor. Surely they are proud of you."

"I wish I knew."

"Is getting married and having children something you want?" he asked, hoping for a yes for a reason he wasn't entirely sure of.

"Yes, very much."

"I guess they will just need to be patient then."

"Yeah." She looked him in the eye for a moment. "What about you? Tell me about your family, Jack."

"Well, I have one brother, Tom. He's an accountant and lives just outside the city here. Our father passed away when I was thirteen and he was ten so my mom raised us alone. Now she's married to my stepfather, Bill, and they live in Seattle." He smiled. "Just so you know, my mom wants me to get married and have a family about as much as yours. She wants a grandbaby before she "kicks the bucket," I think is how she puts it."

Elizabeth laughed. "How old is she?"

"Fifty five."

"That's not old!"

"According to her, she is on death's door so I better get a move on it."

"I really want to meet your mom. She sounds great."

"She is," he agreed. "I told her about you."

"You did?" Nerves and uncertainty filled her stomach.

"Yes. She really wants to meet you too."

Jack and Elizabeth chatted for another hour and then he locked up and walked her to her car.

He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Drive safe, Doc," he told her, kissing her forehead.

"You too."

….

Faith cornered Elizabeth in the doctor lounge. "Alright, Beth. I really need to hear about your mystery man." They hadn't had a moment to speak about anything in the last few days, let alone who Elizabeth was seeing.

"I have two minutes, Faith. This is a longer conversation than just two minutes. But I'll leave you with two words. Chef. Diner," she told her holding up two fingers.

"Oooh. Really? Is he cute?"

"Gotta go. I'll call you tonight," Elizabeth said, walking away.

"That's like twelve hours, Beth."

"Sorry, work comes before fun."

Elizabeth worked hard until noon and then headed over to the diner, sitting down at the counter as usual.

"Beth, good to see you."

"You too, Clara."

"What can I get for you?"

"I'm going with a patty melt and fries."

"How do you eat like that and stay so thin?"

She raised her arm and pointed at what looked like a watch. "Fitbit. I walk at least fifteen thousand steps a day."

"That'll do it," Clara said, raising her eyebrows.

Clara turned around and told Jack her order. "Patty melt and fries for your pretty lady, Chef."

"Give me ten," he said, winking at Elizabeth who blushed immediately.

The note from Jack this time said, "I want to make you dinner. Soon."

She smiled and met his eyes. "I'm off Thursday," she told him.

"Good." He wasn't off but he would ask Jimmy to cover for him.

Late that night, Beth texted Jack. "So, Thursday? Where are u cooking 4 me?"

"My apartment, if that's ok with u."

"Sure."

"I have a dog."

"I like dogs."

"His name is Shrimp."

"Cute."

"Any allergies I should know about?"

"Nope. What do u plan on making?"

"Surprise."

"No hints?"

"Don't like surprises?"

"Not really but I'll deal with it."

Jack called her. "Hey," he said when she answered.

"Hi."

"How was the rest of your day?"

"Busy but not horribly. How was yours?"

"Any day I get to see you is a good day."

"That was a sweet thing to say, Jack."

"It was the truth. Now tell me, Beth, have you always wanted to be a doctor?"

"No. When I was about ten, all I wanted was to be a mom. I still wanted that when I graduated high school but my boyfriend pushed me to do more. He said I should get a degree, do something important with my life."

"Being a mom is important."

"Yeah, I agree but I figured I should be able to take care of myself in the meantime while I wait for my dreams to come true. So now, I take care of children, and even though they aren't my own, I feel like I make a difference."

"Of course you do." She'd made a huge difference in his life. He was happier and that was because of her.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to come with me, Sunday. I know its early to be meeting each other's parents."

"I want to go, Beth."

"Alright." She would be happy to finally not be alone but he didn't know what he was walking into.


	4. Chapter 4

Thursday

Elizabeth knocked on Jack's apartment door. She would not choose a first floor apartment. Anyone walking above her would drive her nuts and keep her awake. Maybe he was a heavy sleeper.

Jack opened the door and smiled. "Hey, Beth. Come in." An adorable bulldog barked at her from the doorway to the kitchen. "Come say hi, Shrimpy," he told him.

Shrimp let out a groan and sat down, letting out one more bark for good measure. She chuckled and walked over, kneeling down next to him. "Hi, buddy. I'm Beth. You sure are cute." Shrimp sniffed her hand and gave her a lick. "Who takes care of him when you are working?"

"My neighbor in 2C. She walks dogs for a living so I pay her to do it twice a day. That way he gets exercise and plays with other dogs."

"Makes sense."

"May I take your coat?"

She stood and handed it to him, watching him hang it in the closet by the door. "So, Chef. What's on the menu for tonight?"

He motioned for her to come to the tiny kitchen with him. "Baked Lobster Tails, risotto, Bacon Avocado Caesar salad and I made something amazing for dessert that I'll keep a surprise for now."

"You made all that?"

He shrugged and started plating the lobster and risotto. "Yeah."

"Why is it you work in a diner? This is food you would order in a fancy restaurant."

"Well, I'm working there to save for my own bistro. My friend Lee and I are going to co-own it."

"How close are you?"

"I'm thinking within about six months."

"That's great, Jack."

He carried their dinner plates to the small table just off the kitchen. The salad was already there waiting. "Would you like some wine?" he asked.

"Sure, just a little though. More than half a glass and I'll be asleep in my food."

"Noted." He smiled, filling her glass only half full and doing the same with his.

They sat and he offered his hand. "I'd like to pray if you don't mind," he said softly.

"Please." He squeezed her hand gently.

"Dear Lord, we humbly thank you for this food we are about to eat and for this chance to know each other more. We are grateful for everything you provide and beg forgiveness for our shortcomings. In Jesus name, Amen."

"Amen."

She took a bite of her risotto and her eyes lit up. "Holy moly, Jack. This is amazing."

"Thank you. I'm glad I got a chance to cook for you. Something different."

"Me too."

They ate silently for a few moments and then he spoke. "You look beautiful tonight."

She smiled, her blue eyes sparkling in the candlelight. "Thank you."

"You said something the other day that got me thinking."

"What's that?"

"That finding out who your dad is sends men running for the hills. Has that happened a lot?"

"Not to me more than once. My sisters dated more than I did."

"Why is that?"

"My boyfriend I mentioned? The one from high school? He became my fiancé partway through medical school."

"You were engaged."

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"He decided he'd rather date my best friend instead."

"Jerk."

"Well, now they are married with a kid on the way. I guess I'm glad they found their happiness. Personally, I see now that we were mostly together because it was comfortable, not because we loved each other."

"How long has it been?"

"Five years." She sipped her wine. "What about you? Ever been engaged?"

"Yeah. I met her in college. We were twenty two and had no idea what marriage involved. We broke up about two months before the wedding. It was amicable so we were both ready to not be together."

"Anybody serious since then?"

"No. I've dated a few times, but mostly I just work and save and play with Shrimp." The dog woofed, hearing his name.

"Do you want a family, Jack?" She bit her lip, waiting and hoping. During the evenings since they met, and all of their conversations, she had felt her heart accepting him, wanting him in her life. If he didn't want a family, she didn't think it could work between them. That would hurt her immensely but she should find out now.

"Yes. At least two kids. I want a boy to play football with in the backyard and teach to fish and wrestle with, like my Dad did with Tom and me. I want a little girl that needs me to keep her safe from monsters in the closet and snuggle up with in the evening. I want a wife to wake up next to every morning and share my hopes and dreams with."

As they cleaned up, they both thought about how deep their discussion had been. Jack wondered if his musings about a family had scared her a bit or if it had been too soon to share. Elizabeth wondered how in the world she was dating such a wonderful man who seemed perfectly suited to her.

"Ready for dessert?" he asked.

"Sure." She gasped when he revealed her favorite, chocolate lava cake, the center oozing with a dark chocolate ganache. "Oh my."

"I take it you like chocolate?"

"Like? In my opinion, it should have it's own food group."

He chuckled and took out a pint of French vanilla ice cream from the freezer. He placed a piece of cake in a bowl for each of them and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

"We can go eat this on the couch if you want." She nodded and followed him.

They chatted about best friends as they ate their cake and ice cream. She about Faith and he about Lee. He asked if she had any pets and she told him about Goldie her goldfish. She wondered about his mom and stepdad and how long they'd lived in Seattle. Before they knew it, it was almost midnight and neither wanted to stop finding out tidbits about each other. However, she had work at six am and so did he so he walked her to the door.

He wondered if it was too soon to kiss her goodnight. Technically, it was only their second official date but it felt like he had known her so much longer.

In the end, he settled for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She rewarded him with a smile and left the apartment.

"Well, Shrimpy. What do you think?" The dog woofed. "Yeah. She's pretty great. Wanna go outside?"

Elizabeth smiled as she drove home. It had been a wonderful night. She was absolutely talking to Faith at work the next day.

….

Elizabeth found Faith sipping tea and eating saltines in the lounge when she got to work. She had purposely arrived early so they had time to talk. But her friend didn't look well.

"Faith? Are you sick?"

"Kinda. I'm pregnant, Beth."

"You are?! Congratulations!" Elizabeth bent down to hug her friend. She and Carson had been trying for awhile.

"Thanks." Faith looked up at the clock. "You're early."

"We haven't talked."

"No we haven't. I'm all ears, Beth." Faith ate another saltine and smiled.

"His name is Jack Thornton. He is the head chef at the diner."

"And….?"

"And what?"

"You came in thirty minutes early to tell me his name and where he works? I know you better than that, my friend. My guess is you think you like him too much and you want to know if you're nuts."

"How do you do that, Faith?"

"I know you and no, you aren't nuts. The heart feels what it feels."

"He's so wonderful, Faith. He made me dinner last night and we ended up talking until midnight. I miss him right this minute. I almost want to take lunch early just to see him."

Faith smiled. "Early relationships are great. That heady feeling you get when you see him. The stomach flutters when you think about him."

"Do you still feel like that about Carson?"

"To a different degree, yes. I still miss him when I'm not around him and when he smiles at me, I get goosebumps."

Elizabeth hoped she would have what Carson and Faith have one day. It was hitting her deeper as she thought about Jack.

"You'll have it, Beth. I can see that look in your eyes. I know how bad you want a family. You seem to be well on your way too."

"Thanks, Faith. The best part is, he wants it too. I can't believe how much he wants it."

"That's great. I'm happy for you."

"And I'm happy for you."

….

At noon, she headed to the diner, taking her usual place.

"Hi," she said, smiling at him through the window.

He gestured with one finger for her to wait a moment. "Jim, I'm taking my ten."

He came through the kitchen and around the counter, taking the stool next to her. "Hi."

She turned to face him, their knees bumping but neither of them bothered to move. She smiled when he took her hands, threading their fingers together. "I missed you today," she told him quietly. "After last night, I really wanted to see you."

"I missed you too."

Clara cleared her throat but they just stared at each other. "Hungry today, Beth?"

"Yeah. I'll have Fish and Chips and a diet soda, please."

Clara smiled at the two of them and called her order to Jim. "Coming up."

Jack wished they weren't in a public place because he honestly just wanted to kiss her to make up for not doing it the night before. Instead, as his break wound down, he pulled her close and hugged her as she stood between his knees.

Elizabeth sighed, loving how safe and wanted she felt in his arms. It was a heady feeling, just like Faith had described it, and she didn't want it to end. But he pulled back a bit, his eyes quickly moving to her lips as they stood within a few inches of each other. It took all he had not to lean forward and claim them.

"I need to get back. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." She kissed his cheek and moved back to her stool so he could walk away. She fanned her face which felt as if it was on fire.

"I guess I don't need to ask how things are going," Clara said with a laugh.

"No, I guess you don't." Elizabeth giggled and then sipped her soda, watching Jack through the window.

At around five, an hour before she was scheduled to clock out, she was paged to the desk.

She walked up. "I was paged."

"These came for you," the receptionist told her with a smile, gesturing toward a bouquet of flowers.

"For me?" She smelled the yellow and pink tulips and opened the card.

"Thinking of you and looking forward to Sunday. - Jack"

She took them home an hour later, placing them on her kitchen table. Then she texted Jack. "Thank you for the beautiful flowers. I love them!"

Jack flipped the burgers he was cooking when he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. He figured it was Beth. He hoped she liked the flowers.

When he finally had time to look at his phone, it wasn't just Beth that had texted. He also had a text from Lee telling him to call no matter how late he got off.

So, after getting home, taking Shrimp outside and feeding him, Jack called him.

"My friend, you'll never guess the news I have," Lee told him.

"What's that?"

"I found the perfect spot for our bistro. Man, I'm telling you it is amazing."

"Where is it?"

"Its in Cambridge."

"Lee, I thought we were going to stay in the city."

"I know, but, Jack, this place is well within our price range and the location is right where we need it to be. At least come see it with me before you shoot it down."

"Sure. When are you available?"

"Sunday is good for me."

"I have plans Sunday night, but if it's right after services, I can make it."

"Great. We will drive up there as soon as church is done."


	5. Chapter 5

Sunday evening

Beth had said to dress in a suit and tie so he did but now he felt like his collar and tie were strangling him. He took a deep breath and blew it out as he pulled into Beth's driveway. "Chill, Jack. Don't let her see you're nervous," he told himself.

He got out of the car and walked up her brick paved walkway. She opened the door just as he was about to knock.

"Hi," she said with a huge smile. "Come in."

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "It smells so good in here."

"Apples and Cinnamon," she told him.

"One of my favorites." He helped her put her coat on. He wasn't going to tell her that the other one of his favorites was her vanilla soap or lotion or whatever it was that made him want to stay at her house instead of leaving. "You smell good too," he blurted before he could stop himself.

"Thank you. I was going to say the same thing about you." He smelled spicy and clean. It was making her blush thinking about sitting next to him all night.

He took a step closer to her, gently taking her hands. "After dinner, will you go somewhere with me?"

"Yes."

He wanted to take her to the building he and Lee had seen earlier in the day. He wanted her opinion and hoped they could talk about a few things.

"Great. Shall we?" He offered his hand and led her out the door to his truck. He opened her door for her and closed it once she was inside and then walked around the front to get in the driver's seat.

"It sure is chilly tonight," she mentioned.

"Yeah, but I love it. Fall is my favorite time of year." He turned her heated seat on and took her hand.

"I like fall, but I love winter. There is something magical about snow and the holidays."

"I guess you'll have to convince me because I could definitely do without snow."

"Don't worry. I will." It would have to be something special and she had a few ideas.

"By the way, you look amazing in that dress."

"Thank you." She had purchased the proverbial "little black dress" about a week before, not knowing for sure if he would go with her or not, but wanting to look her best just in case. She loved the almost off-the-shoulder look and sweetheart neckline. It also had three quarter length sleeves which she thought looked very classy, almost like Audrey Hepburn.

"I've never seen you in a suit before," she said, looking at him appreciatively.

"I don't wear one often, mostly just to church." He squeezed her hand. "Do you want to come to church with me next Sunday?"

"I have it off so I think that would be nice."

"Great." He wanted to share that part of his life with her. Actually, he wanted to share every part of his life with her.

"And maybe after we can do lunch?"

"Sure. Are you cooking?"

"I was thinking maybe we could get Thai or Chinese."

"Oh! I love Thai. Yes, let's do that."

"It's a date." He pulled into her parent's driveway and tried not to react to the size of their home or mansion. Whatever it was. He didn't want her to get offended by anything he thought or assumed.

"I know it's big. Too big."

"It's…..larger…than the average home, yes."

She laughed. "Thank you for being so nice about it."

"Thank you for bringing me here. Living here was a part of you and I want to know everything."

"The key word there is "was." It's not who I am anymore, Jack."

"Okay."

"Do you believe me?"

"Of course I do, Beth. I think I know you pretty well now and I know that you are independent and strong and a great doctor. You take care of yourself."

"I do."

"This is hard for you, isn't it? This dinner?"

"Yes. They make me feel like I am not good enough. My sister Julie isn't like that, but…I just feel like I am not part of the family."

"How do you feel about yourself?"

"I don't know. I know I am stubborn."

"I don't see that as a bad thing. I see that as something that will get you through tough times. Something that helps you be independent and strong."

"I guess."

He got out and walked around and opened her door. He offered his hand and helped her out, holding onto it for a moment. "Beth, I'm sorry if my question made you upset."

"It didn't. I already felt like this the moment I heard about the party and realized I would have to come alone again."

"You're not alone. I promise you I will be by your side every moment."

"Thank you." He nodded and kissed her forehead.

"I'm just happy I get to spend the evening with you."

She let him lead her up to the door and knock, very very grateful he was with her.

Grace opened the door a moment later. "Beth. Come in."

"Thank you." Elizabeth squeezed Jack's hand. "Jack, this is my mother, Grace Thatcher. Mom, this is Jack Thornton, my boyfriend." Now, they had never defined their relationship in that way but Elizabeth took the chance and Jack seemed alright with it.

"A pleasure, Mrs. Thatcher." Jack shook her hand.

Grace nodded to him. "Please come into the living room. It is time for cocktails."

Jack took Elizabeth's coat and placed it on the coat rack and then took her hand. "Remember, Beth. I'm here with you."

She nodded and walked beside him into the living room.

As soon as they entered the room, Julie pulled her away from the comfort and safety of Jack and started asking her all sorts of questions. Over Julie's shoulder, she saw Mike, Julie's husband and Matthew, Vi's boyfriend start chatting with Jack. At least her father hadn't seen….

"Oh boy. Julie, I need to get over there."

"He will be fine. Mike survived Dad's interrogation a few years back."

"No, I need to get over there."

Elizabeth quickly joined the group of men. "Evening gentlemen," she said, slipping her hand into Jack's.

"Beth," they said with a nod.

Elizabeth dutifully stepped forward and kissed her father's cheek. "Happy Birthday, Dad."

"Thank you, Beth. What does your father do, Jack?"

"My father passed away about twenty years ago, sir, but he was a teacher like my mother."

"I'm sorry to hear that you lost your father."

"Thank you, sir. I do have a wonderful stepfather though. He and my mother live in Seattle."

"Is that where you're from?" Mike asked.

"No, I was born here in Boston. Bill and my mother moved there about ten years ago." Mike nodded.

"Where do you see yourself in ten years?" William asked. Elizabeth squeezed his hand, showing support. She also wanted to know the answer to the question.

"Honestly, by then, I hope to have realized both of my dreams. I want a family of my own and I hope to open my own bistro."

"Why do you think you're qualified to run this "bistro" you mentioned?"

"Dad," Elizabeth said.

"Now, Beth, I think it's a fair question."

"Its okay, Beth," Jack told her with a wink. "Sir, I went to the Culinary Institute of America and was top in my class. Before that I received a degree in business management. I have also worked as head chef at the diner where I'm currently employed and have been for the last ten years."

"I see…what are your inten…"

"Its time for dinner," Grace told the room.

Elizabeth let out a sigh as everyone left the room except her and Jack. "I'm sorry."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Nothing to apologize for. He's being protective of you. I would be too if our daughter was dating someone."

"Two things….One, you would be nicer. It would be like you're getting to know him, not interrogating him. Two, our daughter?"

He smiled, kissed her temple and led her into the dining room. He had slipped. He had intended to say, "my daughter," but his tongue sometimes had a mind of it's own. Especially where Beth was concerned.

Elizabeth saw the look of wonder on Jack's face when he had said "our daughter." She knew he hadn't meant to suggest anything, but on the other hand, she had fallen fast for him. She wondered how he felt about her. He hadn't really kissed her yet but the tender kisses to her cheek or forehead or temple kept her content for now.

The dinner conversation was mostly centered around Vi and Matthew and their wedding, so the heat was off Elizabeth and Jack. Until dessert.

Almost the moment everyone had birthday cheesecake in front of them, William directed it back to Jack. "So, Jack." Elizabeth squeezed his hand again.

"Yes, sir."

"Beth is a doctor, she works very hard. If you get married, do you expect her to drop her career to support yours?"

"William," Grace said, touching his arm. "Not here."

"I think it is a fair question, Gracie. One that needs to be answered for Elizabeth's sake."

"Then let me ask it, Dad. Not in front of everyone." Elizabeth felt her cheeks heat up. "Maybe we should go," she told Jack.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't want to be here anymore." She stood and waited for him to stand too.

"It was nice meeting everyone," Jack told the table. "Sir, I need you to know that I don't ever intend to ask Elizabeth to drop anything for me. She is her own person and has her own mind and if she is happy being a doctor then that is what she will be. If she wants to quit, that's fine too." He stuck his hand out to William. "Happy Birthday, sir."

William shook his hand and nodded to Jack as the couple walked out.

Jack opened the door of his truck for Elizabeth and offered his hand to help her up. "You okay?"

She nodded as tears ran down her face. "You didn't need to answer that question, Jack. He had no right asking that in front of everyone. I can't believe he did that. On second thought, I do believe it. What I can't believe is that I subjected you to this dinner, knowing this is how it would be."

"Hey," he said quietly, reaching past her to grab a tissue. "Everything is just fine. I did not take offense to anything he said or asked. He is trying to protect you even if you don't actually need it."

She smiled through her tears. "Like you would for our daughter?" she asked with a giggle.

"Right. I would, Beth." He kissed her damp cheeks and stepped back. "Now, I have something to show you. Ready?"

"Ready."

They drove out of the city of Boston and toward Cambridge. "I love Cambridge," Beth mused as they got closer. It was about a twenty to thirty minute drive if there was minimal traffic as there was that night. Not too far. Jack pulled the truck into a parking lot next to a building. "Where are we?"

Jack grabbed a set of keys from the console and hopped out to open her door again. As they walked up to the door and opened it, she realized what it was. "Lee called me yesterday, Beth. He told me that he found a perfect place for our bistro. So we came up here today after church." He flipped on the lights and gestured. "What do you think?"

"I can't pretend to know what you need for a restaurant, Jack."

"No, but use your imagination." He took her hand and led her around. "Over here is where the bar would be. The wall, lined with different wines that we would pair perfectly with steak or burgers or seafood." He walked further. "These two walls would be lined with spacious booths, the lighting perfect for conversation or a little romance."

The way he described it, she could see everything.

"Here is where the kitchen would be."

"Where you would be?" She asked, slipping her arm around his back.

"Yeah."

She walked to where the bar was going to be. "I would be sitting here so I can see you through the window."

"Well, as much as I would like that, there isn't going to be a window."

"Aww. I will miss seeing you."

"Sorry."

She stepped in front of him, looking up into his green eyes that were framed by long eyelashes. "Jack?"

"Yeah."

"Did you mean what you told my father?"

"Every word." He reached up and touched the silky soft skin of her cheek. "I want you happy, Beth. No matter what it is that makes you happy, I'm good."

"Is it too soon?" she wondered, leaning into his hand. "To be feeling like this?"

"I feel it too, Beth. I've felt it for months."

"Wait. What do you mean? We have only been dating a few weeks."

"You caught my eye months back when you came into the diner. I watched you through the window."

"You watched me?"

"Sorry, is that creepy?"

"Only if you were watching me through my bedroom window."

They both chuckled. "I would never do that. But through the kitchen window at the diner, watching as you smiled up at Clara, or at my notes, or just enjoying your food. I fell hard, Beth. I wanted to know you immediately." He stepped closer, staring down at her lips and then back up to her eyes. He wanted to taste them, feel them pressed against his. "This is my future, Beth. This restaurant is what I have been working towards and I want it to be yours too. I want you there with me. Every step of the way."

She found herself a little breathless, a little scared of admitting she wanted that too after so short a time. "That's what I want too."

"Are you sure?"

"Never been more sure of anything in my life."

That's all he needed to know. He bent his head down toward her and gently claimed her mouth with his, sealing their feelings with the most amazing, emotion filled kiss they had ever experienced.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next few weeks after their first kiss and then church on that Sunday, Jack and Elizabeth were unable to see each other except through the window at the diner. He was working different hours. Essentially, he had switched his shift to working only forty hour weeks instead of double that so that after his shift, he could work on plans for the new bistro. Lee and Jack were scheduled to sign papers within a month and then they could start renovating.

Jack looked at the sketches he had just drawn up and smiled. He took a picture of them and sent them to Lee for his thoughts.

He looked down as his phone buzzed. It was Beth.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hi. Where r you?"

" home."

"Do u want 2 do something? I just got off work."

"Sure. R u hungry? I can whip something up."

"Starving."

"Come on over."

He heard a knock a moment later. He opened it and smiled. She held a grocery bag in her hands.

"That was quick."

"I was right outside. I took a chance that you would have time."

He took the bag and they walked the short distance to the kitchen. "Ice cream?"

"If you didn't have time, I would have just gone home and grabbed a spoon."

She wondered why he hadn't touched her yet. It had been forever and she missed him so much. Did he feel the same?

"What's on your mind, Beth?"

"Huh?" She realized as she had wondered those things, he had been talking.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know that we are just getting to know each other but even I know that if a woman is eating Triple chocolate chocolate chunk ice cream she has something on her mind."

"I like chocolate?"

He laughed and grabbed two spoons before leading her over to his overstuffed couch. "Spill."

She dipped her spoon in the heavenly concoction and took a bite. "I missed you."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean? Yes, that's it. I missed you so much that I was going to eat this entire pint of ice cream if you said you didn't want to see me."

"I always want to see you, Beth."

"We haven't seen each other in two weeks, Jack. And through the window at the diner doesn't count."

He took a bite of the ice cream and put down his spoon. "I've been working a lot. I'm sorry."

"I don't want you to be sorry. I was just telling you how I feel."

"I'm still sorry. I guess I forget sometimes that it's not just me anymore." Shrimp barked from the dog bed nearby. "And Shrimp. I will do better."

"I know that you have a lot of things going on but Thanksgiving is coming up soon and I was hoping we could spend some of it together. I won't be going to my parents and I don't want to intrude on Faith and her husband."

"Well, I don't have to work but I plan on volunteering at the food bank in the morning. Want to join me for that?"

"Yes."

"No hesitation?"

"None, whatsoever." She put the ice cream down on the side table and moved closer, leaning her head against his shoulder. Her stomach growled and she blushed. "Oh gosh."

"I was going to make lasagna. Wanna help me?"

"Jack, I am not a cook. At all. I would probably burn it."

"I will be right next to you the whole time. If it burns, it will be my fault."

"How about I just keep you company while you cook? It's safer that way."

They walked into the kitchen and she hopped up on the counter. He poured her half a glass of wine. "For you. Half a glass, right?"

"Yep, unless you want me snoring in my lasagna."

"You snore?" he asked with a smile.

"Maybe." He chuckled and grabbed a skillet.

She watched him brown the onions, garlic, and ground beef in the cast iron skillet and then boil a pot of water for the noodles.

He then talked her into mixing the cheeses, eggs, and fresh cilantro and parsley in a bowl reminding her it couldn't be burned. Finally, he assembled the dish and slipped it into the oven.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Well, it's going to take almost an hour to bake so we could watch a movie or talk."

She was perfectly okay with snuggling with him on the couch and stealing a few kisses so she followed him and sat down close, pulling her feet up next to her. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"We don't have to talk," she told him, touching his cheek.

"So a movie? I have Netflix," he told her, picking up the remote.

"Drop the remote, mister."

"I was just kidding," he said with a laugh.

"I hope so. That was my best line." That made them both laugh.

He leaned toward her and kissed her softly. "I'm glad you're here, Beth. I missed you too."

After a few more kisses, they pulled away a bit to regroup. "How are the plans going for the bistro?"

"Good. I sent them over to Lee to see what he thinks."

"Will you show me?"

"Of course." He got up and grabbed the plans from his table and brought them back.

"You drew these?"

"Yeah."

"You are so talented, Jack."

"Nah. It's just a hobby."

"I mean it. You could be an architect. This is amazing."

"Thanks." He pointed out each part of the bistro and answered her questions the best he could. "I can't believe this whole thing is actually happening. Meeting you and finally setting up our bistro. I just can't believe it. It's what I've wanted for so long."

"I'm so proud of you. For realizing your dream and making it a reality. Not everyone gets to do that."

"You did."

"Not yet. Being a doctor isn't my dream. Getting married and having a family is."

"You will get there. I know you will." Because he planned on helping her with that particular dream.

"I hope so."

….

The two lovebirds fought to see each other for the next few weeks but nothing was nailed down. About a week before Thanksgiving they finally set up a movie date when their schedules finally meshed for a night. Jack offered to pick her up and she accepted. However, about thirty minutes before he was to be there, she texted and said she got called into work on an emergency and she wasn't sure when she would be done.

He was disappointed. He couldn't wait until Thanksgiving when he would actually be able to see her and spend time with her. Then he got an idea.

Elizabeth worked hard. There had been a school bus accident on the way back from a field trip and there were numerous injuries so every doctor available was called in. Finally, at around nine pm, she texted Jack.

"Hey, on my way home. I'm sorry about our date."

She didn't get a response but when she pulled in her driveway, she figured out why. His truck sat there and there were lights on in the house that she hadn't left on.

As she walked in, she smelled something heavenly and her stomach growled immediately. "Jack?" she called.

"In the kitchen."

She wandered in to the kitchen and found him cooking. "Hi."

"Welcome home, Beth." He walked over and gave her a kiss. "Hungry?"

"Yes. What did you make?"

"Pot roast with a red wine sauce and roasted potatoes and carrots."

"Oh my goodness. It smells amazing."

"It will be ready in about fifteen."

"I'm going to go shower and then I want to eat." She walked away and then came back and gave him a slow, sweet kiss. "You are wonderful. Thank you for this."

"You're welcome." He smiled and watched her walk away. He was happy to do anything that would help her feel that he cared and that she was worth something.

She walked back downstairs a bit later, feeling refreshed and ready to eat. "Hey," she said with a smile.

He was plating the food. "Hey. Can you grab the wine?"

She picked up the two wine glasses and the bottle and followed him into the small dining area.

Dinner was delicious, beyond delicious actually, and by the time she had eaten and drank her whole glass of wine, she was sleepy.

They moved to the couch and snuggled in to watch a movie. She only made it through five minutes and then she was out, sleeping against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her damp head, which smelled like peaches and vanilla, and covered them with a blanket.

…..

His phone alarm sounded and woke him up at six am the next morning. He looked around confused for a moment and then realized he was still at Beth's house. And she was still next to him but the difference was, they were both horizontal.

He reached for his phone and turned off the alarm hoping she would stay asleep. "Jack," she mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Six. You go back to sleep. I need to get to work."

"Wait, I'm up." She wasn't though. Her eyes were closed and her arms were still wrapped around him, her head still on his chest.

"Beth. I really need to go so I can let Shrimp out and get to work."

"Five more minutes?" She lifted her head slightly and kissed his jaw.

Good heavens, if she kept doing that, she could easily convince him never to leave. "Two minutes," he said in compromise.

"Three."

"Fine, three."

"How did you get in my house?" she asked him. It hadn't hit her until now. He had somehow entered and cooked her dinner. Not that she was complaining. Just curious.

"Honestly, Beth, your key under the rock method is kinda predictable."

"So, I don't need to call the cops?" she teased.

"No, not this time but you do need to find a different hiding place." He sat up slowly and unwrapped her arms from his waist. "I need to go."

"That wasn't three minutes."

"Sorry." He bent down and kissed her. "See you for lunch?"

"I will be there. Thanks again for dinner."

"Anything for you, Beth."

She knew he meant that and that made her feel so loved she almost cried. Instead, she fell back to sleep when she heard the door shut.

….

When Elizabeth arrived at the diner, she didn't expect what she found. Her father, of all people, was sitting at the counter.

She took a deep breath and walked over to him. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk, Beth."

"How did you know I would be here?"

"I went to the hospital and a nurse told me that I would find you over here. That you eat here every day at this time."

"I do. But I don't understand why you didn't just call me."

Jack watched through the window. He could see the tension in Beth's eyes and on her face. He wished that his presence out there would help, but at this point, he needed to let her handle it herself.

"Certain things should be said in person."

"I agree, but maybe we should go somewhere else."

"I already ordered so I want to stay."

"You know this is where Jack works, right?"

"Yes."

"And that he would be making your food."

"Yes. I asked the nice waitress Clara to get me whatever you like best. So I am getting a tuna melt and onion rings. Not sure what onion rings are but she assured me they are delicious."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes and instead sat next to him. Clara walked up.

"Hey, Doc. What'll you have?"

"Ask Jack to surprise me."

"Really?"

"Yep. Thanks, Clara."

"Chef, your pretty lady wants you to surprise her with her order."

Jack met Beth's eyes and winked. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Order up," came a moment later when William's food was finished.

"Tuna melt, onion rings," Clara announced, putting his plate down in front of him. "Enjoy!"

"Thank you." He picked up an onion ring and stared at it. "How do you eat this?"

"Just take a bite."

So he did and chewed. She couldn't tell how he felt about the food by the look on his face but the fact that he took another bite was promising.

"Good?" she wondered.

"Not bad. It's unique." She rolled her eyes this time but made sure that he didn't know.

"So what are we going to talk about?"

"The night of my birthday."

"I really don't want to talk about that, Dad."

"I need you to listen to me, Beth. I only want what's best for you."

"Jack is what's best for me." Jack heard that from the kitchen. That made him feel good.

"You don't know him."

"I do know him, Dad. He's wonderful and smart and talented."

"He works here," he whispered. "If he is as wonderful as you say, why is he wasting his talent working here?"

"He is the head chef here and he is opening a bistro very soon. Please don't make it seem like he isn't good enough. He is too good for me, if anything." She sighed. "If this is what you were going to do during our conversation, I'm going to go."

"Wait. I'm not finished."

"If you want to talk about Jack, I am going to go. We are just going to have to agree to disagree on this."

"I expect you'll be coming home for Thanksgiving."

"No, I'm sorry. I have plans."

"With Jack?"

"I don't think that matters."

"Thanksgiving is for spending time with family, Beth."

"Family is supposed to support each other and their decisions. You have never supported me, Dad. Mom only wants me to concentrate on getting married and having a family. I want that too but neither of you seem to care about the fact that I worked my tail off in college and medical school so that I could be a good doctor and help children." She stood and put her coat back on. "Clara, can you please put my food in a to-go box?"

Jack came out from the kitchen and walked over. "Hey."

"Hi." She felt her eyes tearing up.

"I'm off at six. Want me to pick you up at home?" he wondered.

"Yes, please." He kissed her temple and rubbed her back.

"I will see you then." She nodded, took her food and walked out. She made it to her car before she allowed the tears to start and once they did, it took a while for them to stop.

As Elizabeth sat in her car, Jack turned to William. "You raised a brilliant woman, sir. I'm sure you know that. All I'm asking is for you to give us a chance."

"What are your plans regarding my daughter, Jack?"

Jack figured he would want the truth so he went for it. "I plan to marry her someday, sir. We will be each other's family. It's our dream."


	7. Chapter 7

Jack picked her up that evening, precisely at six. He had planned the evening the previous week and he hoped it would help her feel better after the day she had experienced.

She came to the door, her eyes betraying her emotions. "Do you mind if we just stay here, Jack? I'm not really feeling up to going out."

That was when she noticed how he was dressed. He was wearing black dress pants, a white button down and a black suit jacket. He looked really nice. What had he planned?

"Sure," he told her, trying to keep any trace of disappointment from his voice.

"I'm sorry. You planned something special, didn't you?"

"It's fine."

"No, its not. She dabbed at her eyes and forced a smile. "Give me a moment to change, alright?"

"Beth, it's really okay if we stay here."

She stood on her toes and kissed his lips. "Give me ten minutes. I'll be right back."

When she came back out, he would have never known she'd been upset before. She wore a long dress that was both casual and yet fitting for his plans and her makeup and hair were flawless.

She had bought the maxi dress for whenever they might go out again, immediately loving it. It was ankle length with a navy top, high waist, and Chevron style bottom with mixes of red, navy, and tan.

"You look beautiful," he told her.

"Thank you. I'm sorry about before."

"Don't be."

"Shall we go?" she asked.

"Yes, let's go. We need to be there by seven."

She wondered where "there" was, but she decided to let him keep his secret for now.

He helped her put her coat on and advised her to maybe wear boots. "Is this going to be outside?"

"Yeah."

She stepped up into his truck a few moments later and looked in the bench seat behind. She saw a soft, thick blanket and a bottle of champagne.

He closed her door and jogged around to his side.

He smiled at her and took her hand as they drove. "Want a hint?"

"Yes."

"Venice."

"Venice? Don't tell me, you secretly own a private jet and you're taking me to Italy."

"Exactly. I'm a billionaire, did I forget to mention that?"

"Yeah. I guess you did." She gazed at him as he drove. "You look amazing, Jack."

"Thank you," he said with a wink.

As they pulled into a parking lot, she gasped. They were at the Charles River. "Jack!"

"Yeah?"

"Are we….wait…what are we doing?"

"You'll see." He grabbed the bottle of champagne, the blanket, and then her hand and led her to the dock.

"Good evening, sir. Thornton party?" the man asked.

Jack nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

"Wonderful. Have a beautiful evening."

Jack stepped down into a gondola and held his hand out to Elizabeth. "Jack. I can't believe you did this."

He grinned, dazzling her with his dimples. "Anything for you, Beth."

He put the bottle of champagne in the bucket of ice and gestured for her to sit.

"Ready, folks?" the gondolier asked them, his long paddle ready.

"Ready," Jack told him, taking his own seat.

As they slowly glided across the river, Elizabeth stared up at the bright moon and stars. What a romantic evening it was turning out to be.

Jack put his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing her forehead and nose, his fingertips grazing her cheek. "What do you think, Beth?" he whispered.

Instead of answering with words, she moved about half an inch and claimed his lips with hers. "I think I'm a very lucky woman and I don't deserve you," she mumbled before tasting his lips again.

"You deserve the moon and the stars, sweetheart."

When she had dated Charlie, she had never felt like this. Jack Thornton had grabbed onto her heart and now she was in so deep. She knew that she was falling in love. It was scary and amazing all at the same time.

Jack readjusted the blanket that was over their laps and opened the picnic style basket that was at their feet. He pulled out chocolate covered strawberries and then poured a half glass of champagne for both of them.

He held up his glass. "To our dreams and the future," he toasted.

…..

"A gondola ride?" Faith squealed over the phone. "Wow! This Jack Thornton guy is pretty romantic. I want to go on a gondola ride."

"Tell Carson."

"Although, on second thought, everything makes me puke so maybe a boat ride might not be the best plan at this moment."

Elizabeth laughed. "Yeah, you might want to wait."

"What else did Mr. Romance have up his sleeve?"

"We drank champagne and ate chocolate covered strawberries and just rode under the stars for almost an hour. Then we headed to a café and had hot chocolate by the fire pit on the patio."

"Good heavens. When it's time to propose, how will he beat that?"

"He doesn't have to beat it and who said anything about him proposing?"

"I did. Are you telling me you haven't thought about it?"

"Well, no, but it's early for us."

"When the heart knows, it knows. Trust me."

Her heart definitely knew that he was going to be her husband one day, and she refused to rush anything but she didn't want to wait forever like Charles had insisted on doing. She was thirty after all and having a family needed to be started within the next few years, but her relationship with Jack was more important than anything else.

"Yoohoo, earth to Beth."

"I'm sorry. I was somewhere else."

"Yeah. I was just going to ask if you had plans for Christmas. If not, Carson and I would love to have you over."

"I do actually. Jack asked me to fly to Seattle to meet his mom."

…..

Thanksgiving Day

Jack picked her up at 7:30am and they drove to the food bank. "I'm happy we're doing this," he told her with a smile.

"Me too. Do you do this every year?"

"Not always the food bank. Sometimes I do "Meals on Wheels" or a homeless shelter."

"You are a good man, Jack."

He shrugged. "I just like to help others. When we finally have the bistro opened, Lee and I are going to do Thanksgiving and Christmas meals for those in need. We will invite people to come eat for free on those days."

"If you weren't driving, I would totally kiss you right now," she said with a laugh.

"Oh, maybe I can just pull over into this parking lot…." he teased.

"Soon enough we will be there and you will be rewarded," she said, rolling her eyes.

They arrived at 8:00. He walked around and opened her door, holding out his hand to help her down. She grabbed his hand, but instead of stepping down, she pulled him inside the cab and kissed him. She almost blurted that she loved him, but that would be rushing so she just kissed him a little longer.

"I guess I need to do nice things more often if I am going to get rewards like that."

"Hush. Let's go help people," she told him with a laugh, her cheeks rosy.

He took her hand and led her inside. "Jack Thornton!" a portly, gray-haired fellow said, hugging him and slapping him on the back.

"Harry Crow. Good to see you, man. How are things going?"

"Jack, where are your manners? It seems you have a lovely young woman next to you that you did not introduce to me yet," the man told him.

Elizabeth blushed. "Sorry. Beth, this is Harry. Harry, my girlfriend, Beth."

"Girlfriend? Well, it's about time someone snatched you up," he told Jack.

"Yeah yeah."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Beth."

"Nice to meet you too, Harry."

"What do you have for us today, Harry? Put us to work!" Jack told him.

"Well, we need boxes put together with canned goods and such. I think there are about two hundred."

"Perfect."

Jack and Elizabeth walked back to a large, cool room with about six long metal tables all loaded with empty boxes that had been flattened and stacks of cereal, rice, pasta, and various canned goods.

"So just put one of each item in the box," Harry told them. "Once that is done, seal the box up and stack them behind you there. Let us know when you need us to come move boxes."

"Will do. Thanks, Harry," Jack told him.

Jack moved up next to Elizabeth at her table. "Having fun yet?"

"Absolutely." She was. Just being with Jack as they worked made her day even better.

"Have you decided if you are going to take me up on my offer yet?"

He had suggested on their gondola ride that she join him for Thanksgiving dinner at his brother Tom's house outside Boston.

"Yes. I will go with you tonight."

"Great. I told him to set an extra place for you."

She looked up at him and smiled. "What if I had said no?"

"You wouldn't."

"I could have."

"True but I was putting a lot of faith in how I think we are both feeling."

"And how's that, Jack?" she asked, teasing a bit.

His cheeks turned red and he clammed up. He couldn't spill everything he was feeling. It was too soon.

She turned him slightly and gave him a soft kiss. "You don't need to answer. I was mostly teasing."

"It's not that I don't want to talk about that, it's just….I guess I shouldn't have brought it up yet."

"Don't worry. It's fine, Jack."

"No, you know what? I do want to talk about it."

She looked at him. He was so serious compared to his normal jovial self. "Okay. Let's talk about it."

"Not here though. Let's just talk after we finish. Maybe we can go get coffee or something."

"Deal."

Now, the rest of the time they worked, both of them were stewing about what the other was going to say. At one point, Elizabeth had forgotten to seal the bottom of the box she was working on so when she went to move it to the stack in the back, everything fell on the floor.

She sighed and bent down to clean up her mess. "Jack, we just need to talk now. It's on our minds and it's distracting me so much right now that I am ruining things." She stood and looked at him. "I'll go first. I am falling in love with you, or have already fallen. I've never been in love before but it is scary and wonderful and frustrating all at the same time." She sighed, feeling lighter. "I want you in my life, Jack. I don't know what I would do if you weren't."

He walked over, the same serious look on his face that he had before. "I will always be in your life."

"How do you know that?" she wondered. "I mean, promises like that are dangerous."

"Because it is supposed to be us, Beth. I know it is. We are supposed to be together forever. We are supposed to have a family together and support and love each other until we are old and gray." She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight, her head tucked under his chin. He touched her cheek, tipping her face up so he could look in her eyes. "And I love you too." He kissed her lips slow and sweet.

"I don't want to interrupt," Harry said from the doorway. "But we have about thirty minutes left."

Jack gave her one more kiss and stepped back to his table.

…..

Jack and Elizabeth showed up at Tom's house around six o'clock that evening. Elizabeth had picked up a bouquet of flowers as a gift and Jack had whipped up a pumpkin pie which was Tom's favorite.

"I'm nervous," Elizabeth told Jack as they pulled into his driveway.

"Why? It's just Tom."

"Yes, Tom. Your brother who doesn't know me."

"He will love you. So will my mom and stepdad when we go to Seattle next month. I know they will." He squeezed her hand. "Ready?"

"Yes." She smiled bravely and watched as he walked around the truck to open her door. She slipped her hand into his as they made their way to the door and knocked.

The moment they walked in though, she felt at home. His brother was shorter than him but just as charming and cute. His home was furnished in warm tones and the fire roaring in the living room fireplace added to it.

As they ate with Tom and his girlfriend, Katie Yost, they took turns telling what they were grateful for. Katie was grateful for Tom and his generosity to her family, and Tom for Katie and that he was able to have his brother and Elizabeth join them for dinner.

Elizabeth blushed and looked at Jack. "I'm grateful to have a job that I love and now, to have the support and love of someone so wonderful..." She took a moment to get control of her emotions. "I am just… grateful for finally finding you," she told Jack.

He leaned over and kissed her softly, whispering, "I'm grateful for you too, Beth."

They held each other for a moment and then Tom cleared his throat. "So, it seems you two are closer than you led me to believe, big brother."

Katie swatted his arm and laughed. "Leave them alone, Tom. You don't see them commenting on our relationship."

"That's okay, Katie," Jack said. "Things are definitely in a good place."


	8. Chapter 8

A week before Christmas, Boston

Elizabeth stepped out of the dressing room and looked in the mirror.

"No," Faith told her, shaking her head.

"No?"

"Nope. That makes you look like a sixty year old woman that likes to wear her drapes."

Elizabeth laughed. "Gee, thanks, Faith."

"Just being honest. You definitely don't want to show up looking like that when you meet your boyfriend's parents."

"Okay then. Next." She walked back in the dressing room and changed into the next dress. This one she thought looked better on the hanger.

Finally she came back out in a knee length, black shirt dress. It was casual so it wasn't good for Christmas night dinner but it was good for just everyday things.

"Nice! I like that one! Now put on that navy sparkly dress I found you."

"Aye Aye Captain," Elizabeth told her friend with a salute.

Elizabeth's phone buzzed on the chair next to Faith. She glanced at it and smiled. "Mr. Romance is texting," she announced.

"Okay. I will text him back in a moment."

She walked out a moment later and received applause from Faith. "Perfecto!"

"I think so too." She worked hard to stay trim and fit even if her eating habits didn't reflect it. She liked the way the dress accentuated her curves and she was positive Jack would as well.

She grabbed her phone and smiled as she read the text.

"Hey, beautiful Beth. Hope u are having fun on your girl's day."

"Hi! Miss u."

"Miss u too. Are u coming 4 lunch?"

"We r actually heading 2 China Garden after this."

"Oh. Alright."

She could feel his disappointment in his text. "What time r u off work?"

"Five."

"I will meet u the diner and we can go 2 dinner if u want."

"Or I can cook for us."

"Aren't u tired of cooking by the time u get done working?"

"Nope."

"Alright then. Do u want me 2 meet u at your place then?"

"Sure."

"Uh, Beth?" Faith interrupted.

"Yeah?" She looked up and met Faith's eyes.

"We should get moving. You said we still need to get Jack's Christmas present and a few more sweaters."

"Right. Yes." She quickly typed out, "Luv u!" and headed back in the dressing room.

At 5:30, Elizabeth showed up at Jack's apartment. He opened the door with a grin and pulled her inside.

"Hey." He leaned down and kissed her.

"Hi."

"I'm in the mood for Mexican. The only problem is I need to go to the store."

"Let's go then," she shrugged.

So they did. They hopped in his truck and drove to the local grocery a few blocks from his apartment.

"Do you have a list?" she wondered. She never came to the store without one.

"No. It's in my head."

"What if you forget something necessary?"

"I won't." She pushed the cart as he walked through the aisles strategically.

The basket now contained onion, tomatoes, rice, chicken, tortillas, three different cheeses, sour cream, jalapeños, and enchilada sauce. Then he grabbed a cheesecake from the bakery and a bottle of wine.

"Enchiladas?"

"Yep with Spanish rice."

"Yum. Let's go."

As he cooked a bit later, he asked her to chop the onions and tomatoes while he worked on cooking the chicken.

"How was your shopping trip?"

"Good. Got everything I needed to get. Even your Christmas present."

His eyes lit up as he looked at her. "Can I have a hint? Please?"

"Nope. Five more days, Jack."

"That's going to take forever."

"Is this how you were as a child?"

"Absolutely."

She laughed and put down her knife. "How is the bistro coming along?"

"Great! Opening day is March 1st."

"Are you serious? That's only three months away."

"Well, we aren't making a million changes and the ones we are making won't take that long."

She was so happy for him and very proud of him but she felt a bit of jealousy that he was moving forward with his dreams while she was stuck.

"Hey, Beth? What's going on? You look upset."

She shook her head and kissed his cheek. "Nothing. Just thinking I guess."

"You can tell me. I'm a good listener."

He rolled the last of the enchiladas and slipped the pan into the oven.

"Can I maybe have a hug?" she asked shyly.

He wiped his hands and opened his arms. "You never have to ask, Beth."

Something about the feel of his strong, yet gentle arms comforting her made her feel better and silly at the same time. She just needed to be patient and her dreams would become a reality too.

She stared up at him and smiled. "Thank you."

"What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?"

"Everything is fine."

"You know my mom would remind you that for a relationship to work, there needs to be open communication."

"Yeah."

"What you think is important to me."

She took his hand and led him to his couch. "I'm feeling selfish and silly, Jack. I don't think spilling my thoughts will accomplish anything."

"You are not selfish, Beth."

"I'm jealous," she blurted.

"Of what?" He took her hand and gently rubbed her palm with his fingertips.

"You're getting your dream, moving forward. I'm still stuck." He watched her for a moment. "See, selfish. I'm so proud of you, Jack, and so happy for you but the first thought that entered my mind when you said March 1st was, "What about me?""

He pulled her closer so he could hold her. She laid her head on his chest and sighed. "The way I see it," he said softly. "What you and I have is special. I know we are going to be together forever, Beth. I know that both of our dreams to have a family are going to happen."

"So we need to be patient?"

"Yeah. If I'm being honest, the first six months of having this new restaurant are going to be hard. Long hours especially. When we get married, I want to spend as much time together as possible. I don't want us to be desperately trying to find that time."

"That makes sense."

"I do love you," he reminded her.

"I know. I love you too."

"Does that mean you'll give me a hint about my gift?" he teased.

"Nope. Now who's not being patient?"

…..

Two days later, Lee drove them to the airport early in the morning. They chatted and Elizabeth immediately liked the man. He was funny and kind and made her feel comfortable.

"Are you married, Lee?"

"No ma'am. Suppose I just haven't found the right woman yet."

"You will," she said confidently.

"I guess it's up to someone who knows best," he said, gesturing to the sky. "Until then, I'll be content."

Elizabeth decided that she would do the same. Or at least try. Leaving it up to God who knew what was best was smart and there was so much she had to be content with. Jack was amazing and loving and they both wanted a family. She had a wonderful job working with and helping to heal children. She was close to Julie, even if she and her father didn't get along all the time. She had a home and money for necessities.

"What's on your mind?" Jack wondered, kissing her temple and interrupting her thoughts.

"I'm very blessed. I just needed to be reminded of that."

….

About seven hours later, they landed in Seattle. As soon as they got off the plane, Elizabeth made a fast dash for the bathroom while Jack headed to get their luggage.

His phone rang. "Hey, Bill."

"Hey, son. I'm here in the Yukon in Lot A."

"Great. Beth is in the bathroom and then we will be out."

That was the plan anyway. However, Jack was still waiting for Beth's suitcase to show up on the carousel.

"Okay, I'm back," she told him. "Wait, where's my bag?"

"Not sure. I don't see it."

"Sugarfoot!"

"Sugarfoot?" he said with a smirk.

"Yeah. It's better than the alternative. How can it not be here?"

"I don't know. We need to let someone know at the baggage claim office."

She groaned. "All my clothes are in there. My dress for the Christmas party and my shoes and….good grief."

"If they don't find it, we can go shopping."

He called Bill to fill him in and they headed over to the baggage claim office where of course there was a long line.

"I'm going to get some coffee," Jack told her. "What would you like?"

"Carmel non fat latte please." He nodded, kissed her softly and walked across the way to the Starbucks.

When he returned, she had only moved two feet. "I got you a chocolate chocolate chip muffin."

"You're amazing."

"Just figured you might need some chocolate."

She had a good man and he didn't hesitate to keep proving that to her. She wrapped her arm around his back and stepped closer as they waited.

Finally, after thirty more minutes in line, they filed a baggage claim report and were assured they would be contacted when her bag was located.

They also gave her compensation for buying necessities since hers were lost at the moment.

As they walked to the parking lot, she gasped. "Shooooot!"

"What?"

"The Christmas gifts are in that bag!"

"I'm sorry, sweets. I'm sure we will get your bag back soon. In the meantime, just so you know, you here with me is the best Christmas gift I could ask for."

She reached up, kissed him, and then kissed him again for good measure. Yes, she was a blessed woman. "I love you."

"I love you back." They walked up to a black Yukon as a older gentleman got out.

"Hey, Bill."

"Jack!" Bill gave Jack a hug and a slap on the back. "Good to see you, son."

"You too. This is Beth Thatcher. Beth, my stepdad, Bill Avery."

Bill gave her a brief hug. "Nice to meet you, Beth."

"You too."

As they put Jack's suitcase in the vehicle, Bill noticed she didn't have a bag.

"Its lost," Elizabeth told him. "Do you mind if we stop somewhere so I can get some things?"

"Of course we can. Now hop in. Its freezing out here."

They stopped at a department store not too far from the airport. Elizabeth ran in and bought underwear, a toothbrush, toothpaste, travel size shampoo and conditioner along with some body wash.

When she came back out, she felt a little better about not having her bag, until she remembered she didn't have any clothes to sleep in.

"What did you forget?" Jack asked, seeing her face fall.

"Clothes! I bought underwear but forgot pajamas and shirts and jeans."

"Its okay. I'm sure we have things for you to borrow. Right, Bill?"

"Of course. My wife is a professional shopper. I'm sure we have clothes for you to wear until you get your suitcase back."

"Thank you."

"Of course, dear."

They pulled up to a beautiful home on a few acres of land. It had a wraparound porch that Elizabeth had always dreamed of having one day. Where she could sit on a porch swing with her husband, rocking their babies as they watched the sunset.

"Its beautiful here," she mentioned as they got out of the vehicle.

"It is," Jack agreed. Seattle had always been his favorite place to visit every year.

"This porch," she said as she walked up the steps. "Its perfect. This is what I want someday."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Thank you for bringing me here, Jack. It's exactly what I need."

"Anything for you, Beth."


	9. Chapter 9

Elizabeth lay on the super soft feather bed in Charlotte and Bill's home, remembering the day. It had been a long one and frustrating too. But as soon as they arrived at the house, she felt like family.

Charlotte immediately hugged her and welcomed her to the home. She listened as Elizabeth told her about home and her job and family. Then, she took her into her own walk-in closet and found a few things for her to wear.

Finally, she insisted that she eat the homemade chicken and dumplings she made for dinner, take a bubble bath, and go to bed early. So here she lay. Tired but happy.

She pulled out her phone. "U awake?" she texted Jack.

"Yeah. I'm sitting by the fire in the living room. Wanna join me?"

"B right there." Elizabeth sat up and wrapped her borrowed robe around herself and walked out into the living room. The room was lit only by the Christmas tree and the fireplace. It was so cozy.

She sat down next to Jack and snuggled up to him. "Hi."

"Hi."

"I can't sleep."

"You know, it's really almost midnight in Boston."

"But we aren't in Boston." She kissed his cheek. "I love your parents, by the way."

"Yeah, they're pretty great. They love you too." He reached over and took something off the side table. "I have something for you."

She accepted the small box with a red bow. "You want me to open it now?"

"Yes please."

She opened the box and smiled. "Its beautiful."

She took the gift out of the box and held it up in the light. It was a heart shaped wooden ornament that said "Our first Christmas, Jack & Beth 2018."

"Wow, thank you, Jack."

Jack stood and held out his hand. "Let's put it on the tree." As they hung it, he spoke again. "It's a tradition in our family to put a new ornament on the tree every year. This year it was my turn. Our turn."

"What's this one?" She gently took off a bicycle ornament.

"That's from the year I turned eight. Dad got me a bike that year and taught me to ride."

He smiled, a faraway look on his face. He wanted to do that with his own children one day. Make memories.

Elizabeth put the bicycle back and picked up a figurine with a fishing pole. "And this one?"

"Dad taught Tom and me to fish the year before he passed. Mom bought the ornament to remember him by."

"Do you miss him?" she wondered, putting it back.

"I miss all the things we used to do. As the years pass, I don't remember as much about him specifically. I do remember that he was always the kind of father and husband that I wanted to be."

"Jack." She reached up and brushed away a tear from his cheek. "You are one of the best men I've ever known. I have no doubt you will be both of those things."

"I will try so hard. I promise you."

She didn't know everything about Jack Thornton yet but she did know he was a man of his word and his promises were always something very important to him.

…..

The next morning…

Elizabeth rolled over in her bed and smiled. She smelled bacon, coffee, and maple syrup. She really wanted to investigate but the bed and its soft pillowy warmth kept her there a few more minutes.

Finally, she got up, brushed her teeth, and made her way to the kitchen.

She snuck up behind Jack and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Morning, handsome."

"Hey there."

"Whatcha makin?"

"Belgian waffles and bacon."

"Yum."

He turned and wrapped his arm around her, kissing her forehead. "Sleep well?"

"Mmhm. Our talk helped."

"Me too."

She looked up and laughed. "Who hangs mistletoe above the stove?"

"Someone very smart, I'd say." He put down his tongs and turned fully toward her, pulling her closer.

"Was it you?"

"No, but remind me to thank Bill later." He leaned down and captured her soft mouth with his. "Mm. I love you."

"I love you more."

"What are we thanking me for?" Bill asked with a laugh. "Ah yes. The mistletoe. Actually you need to thank your mother for that one."

Elizabeth pulled back from Jack's arms and blushed. "Morning, Bill."

"Good morning, Beth, Jack." He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the island.

"First waffle is done. Who wants it?" Jack announced.

"Me," Elizabeth said excitedly. "I'm starving."

Elizabeth took the plate and added strawberries to the top along with maple syrup.

Charlotte walked out and gave Bill a kiss. "Morning, love."

"Morning, sweetheart." Elizabeth watched the two flirt a bit. It was a very sweet thing to see.

"How long have you two been married?" she asked Charlotte.

"Fifteen years. It will be sixteen in March."

"How long have your parents been married, Beth?" Bill wondered.

"It will be thirty five years in June."

"Order up," Jack announced, making them all laugh. "Sorry. Habits."

Charlotte took the next waffle and then Bill and finally Jack ate.

"I thought we'd go ice skating," Jack mentioned between bites.

"But you hate snow," Elizabeth mentioned. "I don't know if you've noticed, babe, but it snowed a few inches last night."

"Babe, huh?"

She hadn't even realized she said it. It felt so natural and yet now, with three people looking at her, her face was turning red. "Sorry. It popped out."

"Don't apologize. I like it." He squeezed her hand and smiled. "It just surprised me."

"So, ice skating?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. There's a outdoor ice rink in the city, kinda like Rockafeller center. I thought it would be fun."

"Sure. I'm game."

"Great. Ma, Dad?" This time everyone stared at Jack. "What? Do I have syrup on my chin?"

"No, son. No syrup," Charlotte told him, tears in her eyes.

Bill stood, squeezed Jack's shoulder and excused himself from the room.

Elizabeth leaned toward Jack and kissed his cheek. "I think that was a very sweet thing to do, Jack. You made his Christmas."

Jack swallowed and then excused himself to find Bill.

He found him in his office. "May I come in?"

Bill sniffled and wiped his eyes. "Of course."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Did I upset you?"

Bill turned and looked at the wonderful man that he had raised. He was so very proud of him. He walked toward him and smiled through his tears. "I love you, Jack. In my heart, you are my son I just never fully let myself believe you felt the same. Until now."

"I love you too, Dad." He gave Bill a hug.

"I'm so proud of you and Beth is wonderful, just like we expected."

"Thank you and yes, she is. I love her so much. I can't believe how fast it happened but its true. She's going to be my wife someday."

"I'm guessing soon?"

"Well, with the Bistro and everything coming up, I think we are going to wait a while. I'm going to be so busy and it won't be fair to either of us if I'm working long hours while we are newlyweds."

"What's her schedule like at the hospital?"

"It varies. Most of the time she works from six to six and sometimes, I think twice a month, she works a twenty four hour shift."

"Wow. Doctors have a tough job."

"Yeah."

"Just think about this though. You will be your own boss. You can set the hours you'll be open and what hours you'll work. Lee will be working when you don't, right? And you'll have a manager and sous chefs and others who will be handling responsibilities. It won't just be you."

"Right."

"And most of the time you're working, she will be working too."

"Yeah. Wow that's true. This can really happen. We can get married!"

Elizabeth and Charlotte heard Jack's loud exclamation all the way in the kitchen.

"Anything you want to tell me, Beth?"

"Not really. As far as I knew, we were going to wait a while because he's going to be working a lot at the Bistro."

"Sounds like he might be changing his mind."

"But, we've only known each other two months. We can't get married."

"Why not?"

"We don't know enough yet. Two months isn't enough time." She stood and looked down the hall. "Excuse me."

As she walked down the hall, she walked past the office. "Beth! Come here a moment," Jack said.

She just kept walking and slipped into her room, shutting the door and locking it.

"Beth? Sweets, it's me. May I come in?"

"Jack, I need some time alone. Please."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." She was scared now though. It was way too fast to get married. It didn't make sense but when she knew it wouldn't be possible because of the Bistro, it felt like she wanted to marry him sooner. Now that it was a possibility, she was scared.

What if they ended up divorced because they moved too fast? Divorce was not an option for her, but how did he feel about it? How soon would they have children? Where would they live? How financially secure were they really? She had never been with a man. Had he had that experience with his former fiancé? Questions kept popping up in her head and it cemented the fact that they didn't know enough to enter into a marriage that was supposed to last forever.

She pulled out her phone and texted Faith.

"I'm freaking out here! I need advice."

Faith called her a moment later. "What happened, Beth?"

She spilled her frantic thoughts to her best friend and waited for a response.

"Okay, take a deep breath," Faith told her. "And another. Now listen, I didn't know every single thing about Carson before we got married. I'm still learning things and we've been married six years. If you knew everything, you wouldn't have anything to talk about. That being said, what did Jack say about your concerns?"

"He doesn't know. I locked myself in the guest room."

"Communication is so important, Beth. You need to talk to him. Don't hold back. You both need complete honesty."

"I'm not ready to marry him."

"Tell him that. Ask him all those questions and be prepared that he may have some too."

"Beth? Sweetheart, please let me in," Jack said from the hallway.

"Be honest," Faith told her before hanging up.

Elizabeth sighed, said a quick prayer, and opened the door.

"Hey."

"Hi." She gestured for him to come in.

"What's going on?"

"Can we talk, Jack? I mean completely, honestly?"

"Of course."

He sat down next to her on the bed and took her hand, grateful when she didn't take it away.

"I heard you before. You said we can get married to Bill. But, Jack, I'm not ready."

"I thought you wanted to start a family. I thought we were in the same place."

"Babe, I do want to start a family but not right now. We have so many things that we need to find out about each other and with my relationship with my Dad up in the air and you with the Bistro….I, we, need more time."

"Alright."

"Are you mad?"

"No, a bit confused but not mad. I don't understand what changed."

"This is where complete honesty comes in." She took a deep breath. "I love you…"

"Are you breaking up with me? Because I don't want that."

"No, babe, listen. You are amazing and wonderful and I've enjoyed every single moment we've spent together."

"It sounds like you're breaking up with me. Please, Beth, I'll do anything. Just tell me what I did and I'll change."

She moved closer and touched his face. "Shh. I promise I'm not breaking up with you and I don't want you to change. I just think we are moving really fast. Maybe we should slow down."

"How do we do that?"

"For starters, let's wait on the engagement until after the bistro is open at least."

"Okay."

"And then revisit the subject."

He nodded and pulled her into his arms, relief flooding his heart. Waiting a few months would be fine. "Anything for you, Beth."


	10. Chapter 10

That evening, they took their spot again on the couch by the fire once Bill and Charlotte were in bed. They had two cups of hot cocoa and a blanket covering their laps. Elizabeth turned and leaned against the arm of the couch.

She nudged him with her toe. "Hey, you've been quiet since this morning. Are you angry?"

"No, just thinking, I guess."

"About what?"

"Us."

She moved closer and leaned against his arm, slipping her fingers into his hand. "I have been too."

"You mentioned something at the food bank that day that I just remembered. Maybe if I had remembered it before, we wouldn't be needing to slow down."

"What did I say?"

"That being in love was scary. I hope I didn't make you feel that way."

"No, Jack. I'm absolutely not scared of you. I just meant because it was something I had never experienced before."

"Oh, ok."

"And I don't see taking things slower as something bad. I see it as a chance to learn a lot more about each other. It will help us to have a stronger relationship. A stronger foundation for when we do get married."

"That makes sense. What scares you about getting married?"

"Well, mostly, the unknown. In my heart, divorce is never an option as long as we are faithful to each other. Do you feel the same?"

"Yes, of course. And I would never be unfaithful to you, Beth. I hope you know that."

"Yes, I think I do I just wasn't sure how you felt about divorce. I mean, what if two months into it, we aren't getting along and we never spend time together because our jobs are taking over?"

"Then we take time to talk and make changes and fix it. My vows would be forever, Beth."

"Mine too." She stared at their intertwined fingers.

"What did you want to ask? You can ask anything."

"There is something else that scares me about marriage."

"What's that?"

"I've never…I mean Charlie and I never….I've never been with a man."

He noticed her cheeks reddening and she stopped looking at him. "That's a wonderful thing, Beth." He tipped her chin up so she would look at him. "I love you so much. You don't need to be scared. We are in this together." That was exactly the type of thing she expected him to say. What a wonderful man that she loved.

"Have you ever been with someone, Jack?"

"My fiancé."

"What was her name?"

"Lena Myers. It was over ten years ago and there hasn't been anyone else since then that I would even consider until you."

She sat up slightly and gave him a sweet kiss. "I know that saving yourself for your husband isn't something that very many people would do but it is important to me."

"I'm glad and I respect that, completely. I guess the next logical thing to talk about is when we want to have children," he suggested.

"Well, I'm thirty. By the time we get married, I'll be at least thirty one. Its safest to have babies before a woman turns thirty five."

"So immediately."

"Yeah. What do you think?"

"I'm good with that. I want to play with my kids before I get too old."

"Stop," she laughed. "You're not very old."

"Thirty two. Won't be able to play football with our son until he's like five and that puts me near forty."

"I like that thought. Our son. Chase."

"That's a good name, but I like Lucas."

"Well, we have plenty of time to decide."

"True. Do you think you'll want to work once we have a baby?"

"Definitely not full time, if at all. I want to raise our children myself. Rock them on the porch swing, teach them how to talk and walk and spell their name. It sounds like perfection to me."

"Do you have a porch swing?"

"No. I don't even have a porch," she said with a laugh.

"So your house isn't where you see yourself raising a family?"

"No. It's only a two bedroom. Tiny really. It was just my first home, kind of to show my parents I'm capable of being independent."

"What about Cambridge? It's a beautiful area."

"I would love to live there."

"I plan on buying a home there. Closer to the Bistro and all. Maybe we should look together. Something with a porch swing?"

….

The next morning, the baggage claim office called Elizabeth and informed her they had her suitcase so Jack drove her to the airport and then they went out to lunch.

"I come here every year around this time for lunch," Jack told her. "You are going to love it."

It was a brick building with a "Pauly's Feed Store" on the side of the building.

"Are you sure this is where you come?"

"Yeah. It's great!"

"A feed store?"

"No, that's just what the sign says. It's a bar and grill. It even has a patio out back in the summer where we can eat." He opened her door and offered his hand and smiled when she slipped her fingers into his grasp. "This will be fun."

"I'm sure it will."

They stepped inside and she smiled. Definitely not a feed store. The atmosphere was great. It was comfortable and the booths had high backs which gave a level of privacy she wanted. Even though they agreed to put a hold on the engagement, she still loved him and enjoyed being with him.

They were seated in a booth a moment later. Jack sat next to Elizabeth and slipped his arm around her.

"Heard anything from your family?" he wondered.

"Julie texted me last night."

"How's she doing?"

"Pretty good. She and the baby have had a cold this past week but other than that…" She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Is it crazy that I miss my parents? After everything?"

"Of course not. They are still your family and you love them, even when you're not getting along."

"Maybe I'll call them on Christmas."

"I think that is a good idea."

After lunch, they went ice skating. Jack was, of course, a natural even after never having skated before. After skating, they went and got hot cocoa and then picked up a few more gifts for under the tree.

"What do you think of this for your parents?" Elizabeth wondered, holding up a super soft afghan.

"Mom loves blankets. This is perfect for sitting by the fire."

"So another essential for the new house besides the porch swing. Fireplace and lots of blankets."

"Deal," Jack agreed.

As they walked around the mall, Jack suggested going in to the book store.

"Dad loves mysteries so I thought I'd see if I could find him one." Jack had thought of Bill as his father for quite awhile. He was a good one that was for sure. Only lost his temper one time and Jack totally deserved his anger that time. He was kind to his mom and good to Tom. They really were lucky to have him.

….

On Christmas Eve night, Jack, Elizabeth, Bill, Charlotte, and Tom, who had arrived the day before, sat on the back deck by the fire pit, sipping hot cocoa and making s'mores.

Bill brought out a guitar and started playing songs they all new.

Elizabeth watched as the family sang into the air. No drama there. Just good, old fashioned fun and love. Why couldn't her family be like that?

Jack reached for her hand and pulled her over to join him on the Adirondack chaise, covering them both with a blanket. "What's wrong, sweets?"

"You're lucky." She said as she snuggled into his arms.

"I agree. I get to have you here with me and my family. Nothing could be better."

"I wish my family was like yours."

He stroked her hair with his fingertips as Charlotte and Bill sang "Oh Holy Night."

"One day, my family will be yours. In the meantime, try to make amends with your parents. I think it will be worth it in the long run."

"Will you be there with me when I call?"

"Of course I will."

…..

The next morning, after breakfast, Jack sat next to Elizabeth on her bed as she dialed her parent's number.

She put the phone on speaker and gripped Jack's hand, soaking up his courage.

"Beth?"

"Merry Christmas, Mom."

"Merry Christmas, dear. Are you having a good time in Seattle?"

"Yes, I am. It's a beautiful place to visit." After a moment of silence, Elizabeth spoke again. "Is Dad there?"

"Of course he is. He is chasing Simon around the parlor right now. That boy is pretty fast on his feet."

"Mom, I'm sorry I left the night of Dad's dinner. I should have stayed and spoken to Dad."

"Maybe so but your father may not have backed down either way. He only wants what is best for you, Beth, even if the two of you don't agree on what that is."

"Jack said he's trying to protect me from the unknown."

"I agree with that. It's a parent's job to protect their child for such a long time that it's hard to eventually let them go and fend for themselves."

"I can imagine it would be." Elizabeth squeezed Jack's hand and smiled. "May I speak with Dad?"

"Sure, Beth. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

Jack kissed her forehead and then her lips as they waited. "I'm so proud of you," he whispered with a smile.

"Hello?"

"Dad?" Elizabeth said tearfully. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, love. I wish you were here at home."

"I know but I'm where I need to be right now."

"Are you enjoying your visit?"

"Yes, very much. Jack's parents are just as wonderful as he is." William didn't speak. So Elizabeth gathered her courage. "I wanted to apologize for leaving on your birthday. I should have stayed and talked to you."

"Yes, well, the past is in the past."

"I need to ask you to give Jack another chance, Dad. I need you to trust me to make my own decisions and that I know what is best for me."

"Is he sitting right next to you?"

"Yes he is."

"Hello, sir," Jack greeted.

"Jack."

"Dad? What do you say?"

"Maybe we can try another dinner."

"At my house. You haven't seen it and that way Jack can cook for us."

"Very well. Travel safely, Beth. We will make plans when you return."

"Okay. I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, dear."

Jack smiled when Elizabeth hung up. "You alright?"

She nodded and dried her cheeks. "Yes. Thank you for being with me. That helped a lot."

"Glad to do it. Now let's go open presents."

….

Jack watched as Elizabeth opened her gift from him. "Oh! Jack, this is so amazing!" She lifted the new stethoscope out of the box. The end piece was rose gold. She had never seen anything like it. "You engraved it?"

"Yeah. I know its corny but it's how I feel." She saw him blush.

"What does it say?" Charlotte asked.

"My heart beats for you," Elizabeth told them with a smile. "Sweet man," she said, looking at Jack. "Thank you, babe."

"You're welcome, sweets."

She handed him a flat box. "For you."

He opened it and smiled. "Cool. A leather book?"

"Actually it's a journal. I thought you could use it to write your recipes in for the Bistro."

"Great idea. Thank you!" He leaned over and kissed her soundly.

As the presents were opened, Elizabeth felt grateful once again for the family that would one day soon be hers and for the family that already was. What a blessing she had.

Jack felt the same as he went to write in his journal that night and discovered the first page was already taken.

"Jack,

I want you to know and always remember that my heart is completely yours.

As we go along in this life together, I promise I will support your decisions and stand by you so that you will never feel alone.

I know that life will not always be easy but knowing you'll be by my side too, makes it something I look forward to instead of fearing.

I love you.

Forever yours,

Beth


	11. Chapter 11

About a month after they returned from Seattle, Jack took a night off and joined Elizabeth and her parents for dinner.

He arrived at her house around three pm, thinking he'd need to find her spare key but she opened the door. "Good afternoon, Jack."

"And you, sweets." He walked in the door, kissing her as he walked past her.

"What are you making?"

"Pot roast over parmesan spinach polenta and garlic roasted asparagus. Oh, and cherry chocolate cheesecake for dessert."

"Oh my word. All of that sounds amazing."

"I hope they like it."

"It sounds perfect, I'm sure they will."

Elizabeth ran the vacuum over the living room rug and then went to straighten and clean the bathroom while Jack seared the pot roast and made the house smell so good her stomach started growling.

She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave.

"Don't you think that might spoil your appetite for dinner?"

"Nope. Old wive's tale. Nothing will stop me from eating your dinner, babe," she said with a smile, kissing his heart shaped lips. "Besides, I can't watch a movie without popcorn and you can help me eat it."

"Movie, huh?"

"Yeah. Batman Returns. It's my favorite of the series."

"Spiderman, Batman. What do you think of The Avengers?"

She grabbed his hand and led him to her entertainment center. He laughed.

"This clinches it. You are the perfect woman."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Superman, three different versions. Four Spiderman movies. Four Batman, The Avengers. X-men. Thor and Captain America."

"So I like action movies," she said with a shrug. "Always have."

"Me too. Tom never wanted to watch with me."

"I always locked myself in my room and watched them. Lights out, curtains drawn."

"Didn't you get scared?"

"Yeah. I like being scared during a movie. Especially when I have a very very handsome boy sitting next to me to protect me."

"Mmm. Happy to hold you in my arms and keep you safe."

She laughed and turned to put the DVD in. "I'll get the popcorn." He watched her walk off to the kitchen, missing her when she was out of sight.

He sighed and sat down in the middle of the couch to wait.

"Alright. Popcorn is ready," she sang as she sat next to him.

"For the new house, porch swing, fireplace, and open concept. I think being able to see the living room from the kitchen and vice versa would be good once we have children."

"Deal," she told him, hitting play on the remote.

…..

"Well, Jack, this meal was delicious," William told him.

"Thank you, sir."

"Is this the type of meal you will serve at your bistro?"

"I may put pot roast on the menu. I'm toying with the idea of putting typical home cooked meals as the chef's special once a week."

"And the rest of the time?"

"Steak, Burgers. Lobster bisque. Scallops, oysters. Then my partner Lee specializes in Italian cuisine. So he wants his butter sage gnocchi, spinach ricotta ravioli and a vegetarian lasagna on the menu."

William nodded. "How long before you open?"

"About five weeks. We got our liquor license and the renovation is almost complete. Next week we will order our menus and start interviews."

"Are you doing that while still working at the diner?" Grace asked.

"My last day is tomorrow. Then I will be free to finish and finalize details."

Elizabeth could see his excitement in his eyes and in his words.

"Do you think you'll do any catering? I do various office events throughout the year."

"We hadn't thought of that but I'll speak with Lee. He would probably go for it."

As they ate their cherry chocolate cheesecake, Grace asked, "What made you fall in love with cooking, Jack?"

"Well, my dad always had me help him in the kitchen. So once he passed away, it was my job to cook for my mom and brother. Even once my mom married Bill, I still cooked. Then, I went to culinary school and I knew it was exactly what I needed to do. It was my dream, along with having my own family."

Elizabeth's hand found his under the table and squeezed.

"When I met, Beth, I knew she was it. Who I was waiting to meet all those years. There was no question that she would complete me and fill my heart."

"Aw, babe. That's very sweet." He kissed the top of her hand.

"I mean it. I love you."

"I love you too."

If he thought she was ready, he would ask her to marry him right then but he was going to wait until the Bistro was up and running, like they agreed. However, he did have the ring ready and waiting in his top dresser drawer.

…..

After her parents went home, Elizabeth sat up on the counter, legs crossed, watching Jack clean her kitchen. She offered to help but he asked her to sit up there and watch him so she did.

"This wine is gooood," she said with a giggle. She had one full glass and now she was working on her second.

"Maybe you should stop, Beth. You're words are a little slurred."

She sipped again and laughed. "I'm good. Plus, I'm not going anywhere until tomorrow afternoon."

He moved next to her to put the clean plates in the cupboard. She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. "You have really nice hair," she told him, flirting.

"Thanks."

"And your eyelashes...amaaaaaazing," she said, drawing the word out.

"Beth," he said, chuckling.

She put her glass down and pulled him over in front of her. "Your lips are shaped like a heart," she told him, tracing them with her index finger. "Perfect for kissing." She leaned in and claimed them with a long, deep kiss.

He sighed and pulled back. "Sweets, I think you need to go to bed and I need to leave."

"You could stay," she suggested, slipping down off the counter, standing very close to him.

"Uh, no. I can't." He washed the last dish and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you. Get some sleep."

"You stayed before, remember?" She slipped her arms around his neck. "We slept on the couch…toooogetherrrr." She kissed him again and giggled.

"Night, Beth. I'll text you tomorrow."

"Fine. Tomorrow then."

"Love you," he said, putting his coat and boots on and slipping out the door.

"Love you too," she said quietly.

….

The next day, lunchtime

Elizabeth walked into the diner and immediately looked at him laughing with his friend in the kitchen.

She walked over to a booth and sat down, removing her coat.

Jack walked over a minute later. "Hey, how are you this morning?" he asked, kissing the top of her head before sitting down across from her.

"A bit loopy and my head hurts. I took some aspirin."

"That's good."

"How many glasses of wine….?"

"You almost finished two by the time I left."

"I don't usually drink like that."

"I know. Don't worry about it."

"I mean…I don't really remember exact details but did I ask you to stay?"

"Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "You were pretty convincing."

"That's the reason I don't drink much. I can't handle it. Things might pop out of my mouth….or I might do things…."

"Beth, it's alright. I had a clear head. As hard as it was to leave, that's what I did."

"Thank you for being such a good man."

"I know what's important to you, Beth. I won't ever do something to take advantage of that."

She nodded. She was embarrassed. But she felt really fortunate that it was Jack that was with her and not some random date. Not that she had random dates.

"How is your last day going?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Bittersweet, I guess. I mean, I'm ready to move forward but I'll miss this place. Miss seeing you here everyday."

"We will still see each other," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but this is where we met. It will always mean a lot to me."

"So maybe we can come here to eat sometimes."

"Yeah."

"I was looking at houses online in Cambridge. I found a couple that I think are affordable."

"But do they have a porch swing, a fireplace, open concept, and a two car garage?" he asked, ticking the items off on his fingers.

"Maybe if you come over sometime soon, I can show you."

"I'm not sure when I'm going to have time. Lee got an apartment in Cambridge and he offered to let me stay with him for awhile. To be closer to the Bistro."

"What about your apartment here?"

"I guess what I'm saying is I'm not going to be in the city anymore."

She nodded. "I guess we won't be seeing much of each other then."

She got up and put her coat on. "Beth, sweets, wait…"

"I need to get to work."

"You didn't eat anything."

"There is a cafeteria."

He stopped her, gripping both of her hands. "Hang on. You just told me not five minutes ago that we will still see each other. I'm only moving to Cambridge. It's like twenty miles. It's not Jupiter."

"If this is going to work, Jack, we need to make time."

"If? This is going to work. There is no "if" about it."

"So what do we do?"

"We alternate driving to see the other. We talk on the phone. We FaceTime."

She nodded and gave him a hug. "This is your dream, Jack. I understand that you have to shift priorities. I'm sorry I reacted that way. It was selfish of me."

"This is my dream but the other part of my dream is making a family with you. Nothing is going to take that away. I promise."

"I love you," she told him, kissing him quickly.

"I will call you tonight. I get off at eight. I love you too."

….

At 8:35, Jack arrived at Elizabeth's house with Shrimp in tow. He was on his way to Lee's apartment but decided he could spend some time with Elizabeth before going up there.

He knocked on the door which caused Shrimp to bark. "Not the brightest, are ya, boy?"

Elizabeth opened the door and gave him a smile. "Hey."

"Hi. I brought Shrimp. Hope that's alright."

"Of course. Shrimpy and I are buds, aren't we?" she asked, kneeling down. Shrimp licked her hand and woofed. "Well, come on in. I ordered pizza."

"Ordered it? Remind me to make that for you soon," Jack told her.

"Ooo, you should have gourmet pizza at your Bistro."

"Hmm. We don't have a pizza oven."

"Could you add one? I'm thinking pizza with oysters or something crazy like that."

"Its an interesting idea. I'll talk to Lee."

"Cool. Pizza is on the counter if you want to grab some and then we can look at the houses on my laptop."

He grabbed a slice and a bottle of water and joined her on the couch.

"So I found these on my friend's realty site. She is an agent and told me how to search. So this one is cute. It has a fenced in yard for Shrimpy, a porch, two fireplaces, three bedrooms, and it says open concept."

"Garage?"

"Yep."

"Wow. That's the price?" he asked, pointing.

"Yeah. It's a new build in a subdivision."

"That's more than I was looking to spend."

"But if we are buying a house together, we can afford this."

"I think we need to talk about how much money we will potentially be making together before we look for houses." She told him her annual income and he raised his eyebrows. "Let's say we buy a house and have a baby and you decide not to work anymore. We need to have a home that I can afford on just my income. Right?"

"True. But there's something I haven't told you yet."

"What's that?"


	12. Chapter 12

"A trust fund?" Jack repeated.

"Yes. I took possession once I turned twenty five. I haven't touched it. Not a penny. I invested a lot of it and it's done well. I could buy three of these houses in cash."

"So you want to buy our house?"

"Not necessarily. What if I paid the amount it would take to get the price down to what you can handle?"

"Or we could go for a cheaper house and you wouldn't need to spend any of it."

"I'd like to help. It will be to make our family happy and comfortable. Our family, babe."

"I think maybe we don't need new construction. I'm fairly handy. I can fix things."

"When would you have time? With a new restaurant and everything, I don't see how you'll have time to renovate or fix things. If we go new construction, there won't be as many issues and we can get exactly what we want."

"I'll think about it," Jack said.

"Maybe we can talk about it again?"

"Yes. Let me think for a bit and then we will talk."

"Jack, are you angry?"

"No, of course not. I guess, just part of me is old fashioned."

"You want to be the one to pay for things?" she asked, understanding.

"I know this isn't the 50s but I'm the husband. The father. It feels like it's my duty."

"It isn't the 50s but I think that's a very sweet thing to want to do."

"But…."

"Not necessary. I would love to contribute. I'm the wife and mother."

She closed her laptop and moved closer to Jack, slipping her fingers into his. She wouldn't say anything more to try to convince him. He knew how she felt now and she would let him think.

He loved the feel of her smaller hand in his. The feel of her head on his shoulder. The feel of knowing she trusted him and gave her opinion but was letting him make the ultimate decision. She was going to make a great wife.

…..

Elizabeth sat in the doctor's lounge with 7 month pregnant Faith early the next morning.

"You told him and he didn't want you to contribute?" Faith asked, rubbing her tummy.

"Right. He acknowledged that it's a old fashioned way of thinking and I agree, but it's also very sweet that he wants to be the protector and provider."

"So what do you think he will do?"

"I don't know." Elizabeth sipped her coffee and sighed. "Let's talk about that little guy in there," she said with a smile. "Did you finally figure out a name?"

"Yes. Colton Dominic."

"Oh! I love that!"

"Me too. Dominic is my Grandfather's name and Carson picked Colton. They sound good together I think."

"Absolutely." Elizabeth stood up and threw away her cup. "Well, duty calls. Get some rest, Mama."

"Got it."

….

Cambridge, Lee and Jack's apartment

"Okay, so we have the menu nailed down. Let's order them," Jack said with excitement.

"On it." Lee called up his friend Trina and ordered the menu, sending her the design they picked through his laptop.

Jack looked through his journal. The letter from Beth first, reading it for the hundredth time. Then the first recipe. The first Chef's special that he would feature on the opening night menu, Pot Roast over parmesan spinach polenta and garlic roasted asparagus. The second recipe was Shepard's pie in honor of his mother. She made it once a week while he was growing up and it was amazing. Instead of the lamb she used, he used pork, and instead of mashed potatoes, he used parsnips.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Should I order the embroidered cloth napkins too?"

"Absolutely."

They had picked a navy napkin with T & C Bistro embroidered in the corner in silver. It looked very classy according to their designer. It would also match the booths and table coverings.

Recipe three caught his eye. Breakfast for dinner. Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream topped with chocolate shavings. It reminded him of Seattle when he made Beth and his parents breakfast.

"Jack, I'm heading to the Bistro. The guys are finishing the paint and they want us to check out the kitchen."

"Great. Let's go."

Jack drove them the five minutes to the Bistro. About two minutes in, his phone rang. He hit the bluetooth button. "Hello?"

"Hey, handsome." Jack looked over at Lee who was smiling at him.

"Hi, sweets. How is your day going?"

"Fine, but I'm sitting here at the counter in the diner and I keep looking up to catch your eye but Jimmy is there. Not you."

"Jimmy might not mind but I'm not sure how I feel about it," he teased.

"Me either."

"I miss you too, Beth."

"What are you up to?"

"Headed to the Bistro to approve the kitchen. I can't believe it's almost done."

"I can't wait to see it all finished."

"We open to the public March 1st, but we are doing a soft opening for family and friends February 25th."

"I'll be there."

"We're here. I need to get inside. Talk to you tonight?"

"I get off at seven."

"I'll call you around then. Love you, Beth."

"Love you too, babe."

That night however, Jack didn't get time to call her. The liquor guy showed up and they had to make the final decisions on what they would serve based on the menu. By the time that was done, it was late.

The next day he texted her and apologized. He didn't receive an answer until late that night.

The next three weeks continued that way. When Jack finally forced himself to take a day off, he picked up some flowers and headed to the hospital to surprise her.

"I'm sorry, sir. She's not here today. She has been sick for a few days," the nurse at the desk told him.

"Sick?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I guess I'll head to her house then."

He drove to her house, surprised to find not only her car in the drive but also a minivan he recognized as Julie's. "Must not be too sick if she is visiting," he muttered. He couldn't figure out why she hadn't told him.

Julie opened the door when he knocked. "Jack."

"Hi, Julie."

"Come in. Beth is on the couch."

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah. She caught the stomach bug that has been going around. She is a lot better today though."

Julie's phone rang. "Hi, Mom….yes…well. One second." Julie looked at Jack. "Can you stay with her? I need to go get Si from my parents."

"Of course. I'm off today."

"Great."

"I'm perfectly fine to stay alone, Julie," Elizabeth called from the living room.

"You have been very sick. You have no energy. Jack can stay with you." Julie smiled at Jack. "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

He walked in and smiled. "Hey, beautiful."

"Stop. I am hardly that right now. I need a shower. I need to brush my teeth and not to mention brush my hair and change clothes."

"You'll always be gorgeous to me."

"I'm too sick to blush but know that probably would have done it."

"Are you hungry? I can make you some soup."

"I am but I should stick to toast or crackers. Not 100% yet."

"I'll get you some toast then." He took off his coat and headed to the kitchen. In the breadbox he found a loaf of sourdough bread. He took two slices out and slipped them into the toaster. Next he found some ginger tea that he knew settled stomachs so he boiled some water in the microwave to accomplish that.

He carried her tea and toast into the living room but when he arrived she was asleep.

He set them down on the table and covered her with a blanket, kissing her forehead. It was cool to the touch so at least she wasn't running a fever.

He took her flowers to the kitchen and put them in a vase and brought them back to the living room. Then, he took out his phone and returned emails while she slept.

About two hours later, she opened her eyes. "Jack?"

"Right here." He knelt next to her. "What do you need?"

"Bathroom. Can you walk with me? I'm so weak."

"Of course." He helped her stand, keeping his arm around her for support. "I found a stool and put it in the tub so you can sit to take a shower."

"Thank you. That's a great idea."

He let her go and decided to go start some soup. She would need more than toast eventually. He heard the shower turn on so he walked out of her room to give her privacy.

Elizabeth sat under the hot steamy water for a long while, allowing it to soothe her achy muscles. It was absolutely heavenly. She lathered up her hair with her vanilla spice shampoo and then conditioner. Last she brushed her teeth so she wouldn't need to stand to do it.

After a few more minutes, she gathered her strength and stood to get out of the tub. It took her a few tries but she got out and wrapped a towel around herself.

She brushed her hair after towel drying it and made her way slowly to her bedroom, sitting on the bed to rest. Maybe she could just crawl under the covers and sleep a bit longer.

"You need to get dressed," she told herself. She got up with a groan and walked to her dresser. She pulled out her underwear and slipped on a pair of flannel pajama pants and a comfy sweatshirt.

"Beth?" she heard through the door.

"Come in."

"Hey, feeling a bit better?"

"Cleaner anyway."

He took a risk and gave her a kiss. "Minty fresh."

"Probably shouldn't do that. I've been pretty sick. I don't want you to catch it. Especially before your opening."

"Its been three weeks since I've seen you, let alone kissed you."

"I know. It feels like forever."

"Yeah. How about a hug?"

"I don't know…"

"I need a hug, Beth. I'm starved for affection here," he said, making her smile.

"Poor babe," she sighed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I made you some chicken and rice soup for when you feel up to it. It should be done in an hour or so."

"Thank you."

She couldn't deny how starved for his affection she had been too. Not seeing him everyday took its toll, especially when their schedules weren't allowing for conversations very much either.

"I missed you," she whispered into his neck. "I don't like not seeing you everyday. It's so hard."

"It is." He bent down and scooped her up into his arms. Then he placed her gently on her bed and covered her up. "You rest. I'm going to be right here."

"I need to change my sheets. I need a maid. I need to clean and disinfect everything."

"I could do it," he offered.

"No. It's my house. I'd rather pay a stranger."

"I'm going to be your husband. I'll do it eventually."

"It will be my job. You'll be at the Bistro. I'll clean."

"I'm going to help you. I'll have the occasional day off."

"Fine. I can see I'm not going to win this argument plus I have no energy to resist."

"Nope. Now you sit here," he told her, pointing to the chair nearby, "while I change your sheets and then you can get back in bed."

Jack cleaned and cooked and stayed the rest of the day and into the late evening. At about ten PM, he kissed her forehead as she slept soundly in her bed.

"Love you, sweets."

"Love you," she mumbled.


	13. Chapter 13

February 24th

Elizabeth turned as she tried on the dress in the store.

"Its perfect," Julie told her with a smile. "He won't know what hit him."

"I'm just not one hundred percent about this one. Am I trying too hard?"

"To look nice? No. It's his big night and he said everyone would be dressed up."

"Well, actually his big night is on the first. This is just the soft opening for family and friends."

"Semantics. This dress is gorgeous and he will love it."

Elizabeth looked in the mirror and smiled. It was a black dress with lace three quarter length sleeves and a lacy hem which fell just at her knees. She felt classy and sophisticated.

"Yeah, this is it," she told her reflection.

"Just add some strappy shoes and you'll be set," Julie told her.

"Thanks, Julie. For coming with me."

You're welcome, sister. Now I need to get home so Mike can leave for work."

"Can I ask you something?" Elizabeth asked her as she stepped back into the dressing room to change.

"Shoot."

"Does it bother you? Not seeing Mike very much? I mean your schedules are pretty opposite."

"Sometimes but he only works four days a week so we do have at least two or three days where we spend time together and with Si." Julie gave her a hug as she emerged. "Don't worry. You and Jack will figure it out."

"Yeah. Thanks."

Elizabeth was struggling with not seeing him very much now and it wasn't going to get better for the next few months at the very least. They weren't even engaged yet. Once they were, how would they buy a house, plan a wedding and then cope with conflicts in work schedules once they were married?

She sighed, bought the dress, and headed to work. She didn't have time to worry now. She needed to concentrate on work.

She succeeded until about ten PM when she was called to the desk.

She finished updating four year old Paisley's chart on her laptop and headed there.

"Hey, doc," Jack said with a grin as he leaned against the desk, a single red rose in his hand.

"Am I on the Bachelor?" she joked.

"Very funny." He looked good in his dark jeans and sweater. "For you," he told her, holding the flower out.

"Thank you."

"Anything for you, Beth."

She slipped her arms around his neck and held on tight. "I love it when you say that."

He buried his face in her neck, taking a deep breath of her scent. "I missed you, sweets."

She hugged tighter and then gave him a kiss. "I missed you."

"When do you take a break?"

"About thirty minutes from now I'll get my dinner break."

"Can we go somewhere?"

"Sure." She kissed him again. "I'll meet you at the coffee shop downstairs?"

"Alright. Love you."

"Love you too."

An hour later, she slipped into the booth next to him. "Sorry. We had a few emergency cases come in. Since Faith is on leave now, we are a bit short staffed."

"That's alright." He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Want me to get you some coffee?"

"I'll go. I need some food too."

"I'll get it. What would you like?"

"Chicken salad croissant with kettle chips and a grande non fat mocha." She stood to let him out. "Thank you."

He winked and walked up to order her food.

They sat and chatted while she ate and caffeinated, talking about the next evening.

"I found a dress," she told him between bites.

"Oh yeah? What does it look like?"

"You'll just need to wait and see."

"You'll wear your hair down though, right?"

"I guess so. I hadn't thought about it."

"You always wear it up in this bun thing. I like your curls."

He had never mentioned her hair before. She had no idea he even had a preference. "Alright, I will wear it down."

"Great."

She snuggled into his arms as the rest of her lunch hour went by. "I really should get back upstairs."

"I'll walk you."

As they climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, he took advantage of the fact that no one was around and gently backed her up against the wall. He stepped up close, his feet between hers, his forehead against hers.

"I'm glad you came tonight," she whispered, her fingers slipping between his.

"I needed to see you. It's been awhile."

"Six days," she said with a smile. "Since you took care of me when I was sick."

"Feels like forever." He gently kissed her lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." She kissed him two more times and then they started climbing the final flight of stairs. "See you tomorrow night."

"Six o'clock."

"I'll be there."

…..

The next night, T & C Bistro

Jack looked around at his parents who had flown in from Seattle and then Tom. Then he found Elizabeth as she stood with her parents. She smiled and it gave him courage. This whole thing was actually happening. It was going to work and she would be by his side as it did.

"Lee and I want to thank everyone for supporting us and coming out tonight. This was our dream and its finally happening after eleven long years of planning and saving. I want to thank my brother and my parents for making sure I knew I could do anything and giving me the tools to make this a reality. I also want to thank someone very special that I met only five months ago but who has become the most important person in my life. Beth, I love you. Thank you for loving me back." Elizabeth smiled and raised her glass as everyone took a sip of their house wine.

Lee stepped forward. "I don't have a lot of people here tonight but I do have the one person I've always been able to count on for his honesty and a bit of sarcasm." The crowd chuckled. "My big brother, Andy Coulter. Thank you, bro, for encouraging me to pursue this dream and not letting me give up. When we lost Mom and Dad, you took care of me, working three jobs to keep food on our table and clothes on my back. I can never fully repay you but I am so thankful. Love you, Andy."

"Here here," Bill said, raising his glass.

"Alright," Jack took over a moment later. "The entire menu is available tonight. Please, order what you'd like and enjoy yourselves."

Jack walked over and gave Elizabeth a kiss and then he and Lee headed to the kitchen to prepare.

Elizabeth sat down at the large rectangular table with her parents and Jack's and Tom and Andy.

A few feet away, at the other end of the table, were Faith and Carson and Julie and Mike.

"That was sweet of Jack to say," Grace mentioned.

"Most important person in his life?" Julie smiled.

"And thank you for loving me back?" Faith squealed.

"Alright everyone," Beth blushed. "We all heard him."

"And….?" Charlotte chimed in.

"And it was very sweet, I agree."

"Yes. Any mention of a proposal?" Julie asked, much too loudly.

"Good evening everyone," a familiar voice asked, causing Beth to look up.

"Clara? You're working here too?"

"No, not too. Instead. Jack hired me last week."

"That's great!"

"I think so too, Doc. Now who would like an appetizer?"

"I'll take calamari," Bill ordered.

"Doc?"

"I'll try the crab cakes."

Clara took everyone else's order and headed back to the kitchen.

"Chefs, 6 apps please," she told Lee and Jack. "One crab cake for your pretty lady, Jack. Two calamari, two spicy shrimp, and one sampler platter."

"Got it. Give us ten," Jack told her, snapping into action.

When Clara brought out the appetizers, she also brought out a note for Beth.

"I'm a lucky man. You look amazingly beautiful tonight. I Love you with all of my heart. Meet me in the kitchen after?"

Elizabeth blushed and slipped the note in her purse. She was the lucky one.

As the group ate their appetizers and then ordered their meals, everyone chatted about the beautiful dining room and how spring was coming soon. Elizabeth was in her own world, wanting nothing more than to see Jack. But she couldn't. No windows to the kitchen at the Bistro. Seeing him after helped her feel better.

Lee came out and walked over to the tables. "What do you all think? Food alright?"

"So good," everyone agreed.

"Anyone have anything they would change or add?"

No one had anything to say so Lee thanked them and headed back to the kitchen.

"Alright, my friend. We got A's from everyone."

"Great," Jack grinned. "We got this, Lee. Its actually happening."

….

After everyone left, including Lee, Elizabeth walked into the kitchen as Jack was cleaning up his prep area. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hi." She took his breath away. That dark, lacy dress, hugging her curves, her dark curls falling below her shoulders. "You want to get some coffee with me, Beth?"

"Yes."

"Great. I'll be finished in just a moment." He removed his apron and his chef jacket, hanging them on the hook by the door. Then he put on his regular jacket and grabbed his keys. "Ready?"

"I'm ready." He took her hand and walked over to the alarm panel to set it and then they walked out the side door.

"There's a coffee shop a couple blocks away," he mentioned.

"Thanks for your note, Jack."

"I meant every word."

"I know."

He opened the coffee shop door, letting her walk in ahead of him.

"Evening, folks. What can I get you?" the barista asked with a smile.

"Decalf grande mocha," Elizabeth ordered.

"Decalf latte," Jack told her.

A few moments later they sat at a small table by the window.

"Tonight seemed to go well," Elizabeth told him. "The food was great. Clara was great as usual."

"Yeah. I felt a little bad stealing her from the diner, but then I snapped out of it."

"Yeah. It's her choice for sure." He reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers. "Something on your mind?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah. I've been thinking about our house conversation from before."

"Alright. Have you decided?"

"I have. I really feel strongly that you should keep your money and that we

should buy a smaller, older home to start with."

"I see."

"Do you, Beth?"

"Yeah. I'll start looking online. Maybe I'll send you what I find."

"Sounds great."

Elizabeth needed to stay supportive of the decision he made. If she quit work after having their babies, he would need to afford the mortgage on only his salary. That eliminated the new build home with everything they both wanted. It required compromise.

"Maybe we can save for a different house down the road."

"Sure," she nodded.

They talked for another hour about budgets and how much he wanted to spend. By the time he walked her to her car, she was clear on what to look for.

He wrapped her in his arms before she got in the car. "I appreciate that you are supportive of this decision. It means so much."

"You are going to be the breadwinner, so to speak. It makes logical sense to go smaller and older."

She had a feeling that this conversation would come up more times over their years together so she prayed for patience and wisdom to handle it in a way that would honor God, Jack, and their vows.


	14. Chapter 14

End of March, one month after grand opening

"Hello?" Elizabeth said, answering her cell as she ran to her car, trying to dodge raindrops.

"Hey, Beth. Its Charlotte."

"Hi, Charlotte. It's good to talk to you."

"You too, dear. I wanted to know if you planned anything for Jack's birthday next week."

"Its his birthday next week?"

"Yes. April 8th. I'm surprised you don't know."

"Well, we haven't had a lot of time lately." That was an understatement. They only saw each other on Sundays. They went to church together either in Cambridge or at her church in the city. After services, they went to lunch and tried to make sure they had time to talk about their jobs and the house hunt or whatever was on their minds. On the weeks she worked Sunday, they talked on the phone. It wasn't enough. She felt like they were struggling.

"Well, we were going to fly in and spend time with him but we don't want to take time away from you."

"That's alright. I have to work that day anyway." She felt the tears coming. Then, against her best efforts to keep them at bay, she sniffed and felt them fall.

"Beth? Are you alright?"

"Of course," she said in a squeaky voice. "Why do you ask?"

"You sound upset, dear. What's going on?"

"Oh, you know."

"When was the last time you talked to him?"

"Last Sunday."

"Four days ago?"

"Yes."

"Honey, you need to make time for each other."

"I know….our schedules just…he works six days a week and sometimes I work on his day off."

"Are you done with work now?"

"Yeah. I'm heading to see my friend Faith. She is overdue with her baby. I told her I would bring her ice cream."

"That's sweet of you. Maybe after you see her, you should go visit Jack."

"I can't just go there. He's working."

"He can take a break. He's been training his sous chef."

"I'll call him tonight." She didn't want to go and see him because she was likely to burst into tears. Calling was safer.

"Beth, go see him. Otherwise you might miss talking to him."

"Alright. I will."

"Good."

"Charlotte, I love him, you know?"

"I know. Love is hard work. Same goes for marriage. You need to work together to find time to talk or just be in the same room sometimes. But the hard work is always worth it."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I guess we will see you next week."

Elizabeth sat in her car for a moment to collect herself and headed to the store to get ice cream. She needed some time with Faith. Before long, that relationship would be changing too. Then where would she be? Work, she had work. The children helped her feel necessary.

About thirty minutes later, Elizabeth walked into Faith and Carson's house. "Faith?"

"Hey, Beth. Come in. I'm on the couch."

"That's good. I brought ice cream."

"Grab two spoons. You know where they are."

A moment later, Elizabeth plopped down on the couch next to her friend and sighed.

"Spill it," Faith told her as she took a bite of rocky road.

"What?"

"Let me guess. It's Jack?" Faith watched Elizabeth break down into tears. "Oh, sweetie. What happened? Did you break up?"

"No."

"What's going on?"

"I miss him, Faith. I feel so lost. The Bistro has been open a month and I have only seen him three times. I never wanted to be that girl."

"Take a bite and a deep breath, Beth."

Beth took a good size chunk of ice cream and sighed. "Why does ice cream make everything better?"

Faith laughed. "It's a miracle?" They ate silently for a bit and then Faith spoke. "You said you never wanted to be that girl. What girl is that?"

"The kind that does this," she gestured to herself. "Cries because she misses her boyfriend. Has trouble sleeping. Functioning. I'm stronger than that. I've gone soft!" Faith just smiled.

"Beth, did I ever tell you that I followed Carson to Minneapolis when we were dating?"

"No. Why?"

"He went there to see his parents because his dad was sick and when he left, I was at work. He had called and my phone wasn't on me so when I got back to my apartment and he wasn't there like I thought he was supposed to be, I freaked out. I didn't see a note and he wasn't answering his phone."

"How did you realize he was in Minneapolis?"

"I remembered we had had a conversation a few days before that he might be heading there. Beth, I was miserable without him. I know just how you feel."

"What happened when you got there?"

"I smacked his arm and told him I was mad and then I kissed the stuffing out of him."

Elizabeth laughed. "Charlotte told me to go see him at the restaurant."

"You talked to Charlotte about him? I'm not sure that is a good idea."

"Not really about him. She called me because apparently his birthday is next week. I told her I didn't know and then I started crying and then I told her I hadn't seen him in a while."

"You should go see him. Be honest and tell him how you feel."

After a few more minutes of ice cream and girl talk, Elizabeth headed home to change and then drove to Cambridge.

When she walked into the restaurant, she almost turned around and left. It was so busy. Every table was full and there were people waiting. So she waited too. About thirty minutes after she arrived, she was sitting at a table relatively close to the kitchen. She wasn't really hungry after all the ice cream, but she couldn't just sit there and not order.

"Hey, Doc. Just you tonight?"

"Hey, Clara. Yeah."

"You seem down."

"I'm alright."

"He misses you too, you know."

"Who's that?" she asked, playing clueless.

"He is definitely different lately. He doesn't smile as much."

"He is probably just tired."

"Beth, do you want me to tell him you are here?"

"Yes."

Beth sauntered off to the kitchen. "Chef."

Jack looked up briefly. "Yes, Clara. What do you have for me?"

"You have a visitor."

"Well, I can't really stop right now. We've got twelve dishes in process." He plated a filet mignon. "Order up, Clara."

"Alright, but this visitor misses you as much as you miss her." Clara picked up the filet and left the kitchen.

Jack paused for a moment. Lee and his sous chef were there and Jack's own sous chef was too. Maybe they could handle it for about fifteen?

Mary, another server walked in. "We need one lobster bisque, one spinach feta ravioli, and one Chef's special."

"You got this, Don?" Jack asked his sous chef. "I need fifteen."

"You got it, Chef."

"Thanks." He walked into the dining room and scanned the room. There she was. Something was wrong, he could see it.

"Beth? Honey, what's wrong?" He knelt down next to her table.

"I….we need to talk. Can we go somewhere?"

"Sure." He stood and took her hand, leading her through the kitchen to an office. He shut the door and looked at her closely. "Beth?"

"We can't keep doing this." She leaned against the desk and crossed her arms.

"Doing what?"

"This. I can't keep only seeing you only once a week. I need more. It may be selfish but it's how I feel."

He stepped closer and grabbed her fingers, pulling her into his space. "Its not selfish."

"I need you, Jack. I can't sleep. I'm distracted at work. My heart literally aches."

He smiled, tenderly kissing her temple. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his back. "Maybe you should see a doctor," he teased.

"Very funny," she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it. What should we do?"

"I think we need to get married."

"What happened to going slow?"

She got up on her toes and kissed him deeply, drinking in his affection. "Slow is overrated," she whispered, kissing him again.

"Can I ask a question?" he said a moment later.

"Go ahead."

"Why do you think that getting married will fix this problem we have?"

"Because you will be coming home to me." To her, it was as simple as that.

"That sounds perfect," he told her, holding her even closer. "But there are a lot of things we need to figure out first, sweets. We need a house, first of all."

"I found one."

"We need to finalize a budget."

"I'm good at spreadsheets."

"We need to…"

"Get married," she finished.

"What are you talking about here? Justice of the peace? Because I'm pretty sure my mom would disown me if we did that."

"Yeah, she probably would. No justice of the peace. But small and simple. Family and close friends."

"Listen, hon. I need to get back. I'm going to call you at exactly eleven tonight. We will make plans to see the house you found. Next day you have off, I will take too. We are going to make this work."

"Promise?"

"Of course." He gave her a few more lingering kisses and then walked her back to the dining room. "Eleven," he reminded her.

"Alright. I love you."

"I love you too."

…..

"You proposed?" Faith asked loudly. "Whoa!"

"Well, kinda. I said I didn't want things to go the way they were and I thought if we got married, it could fix it."

"What did he say?"

"He didn't say no but he didn't say yes either. He is going to call me tonight."

"Do you really want to get married now? Just three months ago you told him you need to slow down."

"We did slow down but I don't want to lose what we have. Faith, he's my one. You have Carson and Jack is mine. I'm ready to share my life with him."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure."

….

That night, at around ten PM, Faith's water broke. She called Elizabeth and she grabbed her phone, work clothes for the next day, and purse and headed up to the Women's Pavilion at Boston Memorial.

As she waited in the waiting room, she pulled up the Realtor's website and looked at the house she had found. She clicked the "share" icon and emailed a link to Jack.

Jack heard his phone ding as they were cleaning the kitchen. Twenty minutes and he needed to call Elizabeth.

He shook his head and smiled. He couldn't believe she had proposed. She seemed desperate though. Like she thought she was losing him so she jumped to getting married.

Of course, he had planned to propose eventually, but he hadn't made definite plans regarding when. Now, he needed to think seriously.

"My friend, you've been cleaning that exact spot for ten minutes. Why don't you head home?" Lee suggested.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Dude, you work like eighty hours a week. It's not necessary all the time. You have me and we each have a well trained sous chef. This is the point where we can make a schedule that will accommodate both of us. Go. Call Beth."

"Thanks, Lee. I owe ya!" he told him as he hurried to his phone and then to his truck.

Once his door was shut, he turned it on and dialed.

"Jack? You're early."

"Lee told me to leave."

"I'm glad. I sent you a link for the house I found."

"Great." Jack heard a lullaby in the background. "Hey, what was that song?"

"Oh, someone had a baby."

"Huh?"

"I'm at the Pavilion at the hospital. Faith is in labor. Every time a baby is born, they play a lullaby over the speakers."

"Hm. That's pretty cool."

"Yeah." Elizabeth couldn't wait to hear that play for them someday.

"Beth?"

"Yeah."

"Let's make plans."


	15. Chapter 15

One week later….

Elizabeth sat on the couch at Faith and Carson's house holding baby Colton. He was nine pounds of pure softness and boy and she was enjoying every moment. He smiled in his sleep as if dreaming of something yummy.

Faith took a picture from across the room. She could see Elizabeth was in heaven. "You comfy there, friend?"

"Yeah. Can I keep him?"

"Uh no," Faith said with a giggle.

"Gotta try," Elizabeth said with a shrug.

"So how are things going with Jack?"

"Better. We talk every day and I have gone to the restaurant a few times. And tomorrow we are going to look at the house I found."

"He has a day off?"

"Yeah. I told him I was off and he took the same. He told me he was going to do that."

"I'm glad, Beth."

"Me too."

"Tell me about the house."

"Well, it has two bedrooms but it's older. It has a wraparound porch and a fireplace and a fenced in yard for Shrimpy."

"You know older homes often have problems."

"Yes. I told him that but he insists and this house has a lot of character. I think it will be good to start with. It has two acres of land so we can always add on."

…..

The next day, Elizabeth got up early and cleaned and straightened her house. Then she took a shower and changed. Jack would be over by 9:00 so that they could go to breakfast and be to their house tour by 10:30.

What she didn't expect was him to be in her kitchen making quiche by the time she came back in the room.

"Morning, Jack."

"Morning, sweets. OJ?"

"Sure. Thank you." He kissed her hello and grinned.

"You smell good."

Her mind drifted to the future. Him cooking her breakfast, looking amazingly handsome in his apron. She couldn't wait to finally have that be reality.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"You. Me. I like this. It's like looking at our future."

"Yeah."

"Have you thought about it?"

"Our future? Yeah. All the time." He put the quiche in the oven and set the timer before turning to her.

"What does that look like?" She was curious.

"Well, obviously children. Two or three, but you already know that. I think about vacations we might take as a family. A lot of the times, I just think about waking up next to you every morning and coming down and cooking you breakfast just like this."

"That sounds perfect," she told him, kissing him softly. "I saw Faith and Colton today."

"Yeah? How are they?"

"Wonderful." He saw the look. She was wanting them to be in the same place. It wasn't time yet, though.

"We need to be patient, sweetheart," he told her pulling her close. "It will happen for us when the timing is right."

"Yeah. I guess I'm not that great at patience. I thought I was. I also thought I was going to be married with children by the time I was twenty five. We all know how that turned out."

"Truthfully, I'm glad it didn't. If it had, we would never have met. You'd be married to that other guy and having his babies."

"Oh, yes. True. I just meant, life doesn't always turn out exactly like we think it should."

He slipped his fingers in between hers and bowed his head. "Dear God, we come to you in prayer today asking for your help. Please help us to remember that we are so blessed by you. Everything that you give us is good and for our benefit. The sunrise and the sunset. The gift of friends and family. The gift of holding a child and hearing them laugh. Those things are sometimes overlooked and taken for granted. Please help us to remember to be thankful for those and for each other. Help me also to be a good boyfriend and one day soon, a good husband to Beth, worthy of her respect and love. She deserves it. I just need your help to give it to her. Through Jesus name, Amen."

"Amen." She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you, Jack. I sometimes forget to thank Him for those things and to ask for help."

"He knows best, Beth. We have that free will that allows us to make decisions, but we absolutely need his guidance."

"I know. I'm sorry that I sounded ungrateful. Like you said, I take things for granted. I should just be happy that I have you and that you are kind to me and that you love me."

"I do love you and I do want to marry you. Will you let me ask you though?"

"Sure. Any idea when that might be?" she teased.

"Yep. I know when."

"And you aren't going to tell me? You know how I feel about surprises."

"I think that when you get this surprise, it will be perfect. Now let's eat and go see the house."

…..

Elizabeth turned to look at the living room. It was small, but there was a fireplace. She would prefer wood floors, but the carpet seemed clean at least.

The kitchen needed new cabinets, or at least a revamp to the old ones. The appliances were standard older ones. The floor seemed to be in good repair. She definitely needed to paint in both rooms.

As the realtor took them into the bedrooms, she was surprised at how small they were. "Will a king sized bed fit in here?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, but a queen would," the realtor mentioned. The carpet in the bedroom was clean but had a few stains here and there.

There wasn't a bathroom attached to the master. It was down the hall. Not ideal, but it would work for a while. There was a bathtub/shower combo that was an ugly yellow color and the toilet and sink matched.

Elizabeth tried to stay positive but it was hard. "When was this house built?"

"1976." That explained the colors and dated kitchen. "It has lots of character, I'm sure you would agree."

Those were the same words Elizabeth had used when describing it to Faith. Now, it seemed less like character and more like just old.

Jack slipped his arm around her back and kissed her temple. "It needs a bit of work."

"That we don't have time to do."

"It's a fixer upper."

"Yeah."

When they sat in his truck thirty minutes later, Elizabeth bit her cheek to stop from giving her opinion.

"So, let's keep looking," Jack told her.

"I thought you wanted older," she mentioned.

"More than that, I want you happy with the home we choose. I know you weren't happy so we keep looking."

"I'm sorry. I was really hoping that this would be the one."

The realtor walked up to Jack's side of the truck. "I have another house that just came on the market. It's newly renovated. Two bedroom, one and a half baths. Fireplace, garage, nice yard."

"When can we see it?"

"I can get the keys and meet you there. It's halfway between here and the city."

"Great. Can you send us the address?"

As they wandered through the next home, Elizabeth couldn't help but smile. Yeah. It felt like home. She could imagine them living there. When they completed the tour, Jack asked the price and it was miraculously in their price range.

"What do you think, sweets?"

"I love it. Do you love it?"

"I do. Can we put in an offer?"

…..

The next evening…

Elizabeth sat on her couch and chatted with Faith on the phone. "It was so pretty, Faith. The whole thing was newly renovated and since it wasn't in the city or in Cambridge, the price was doable for us."

"When will you know if you got it?"

"Hopefully soon. This is so exciting."

Two days later, she texted Jack to ask if had heard anything. "I will get in touch with her," he told her.

That evening, he called her about six o'clock. "Hey, sweets."

"Hey. Have you heard from Carol?"

"Yeah. I asked if we could have another look at the house. Do you want to head up there with me?"

"Sure. When do you want to go?"

"Now, actually. I can meet you there in an hour if that's okay with you and then we can get something to eat."

"Sure. I will be there."

Elizabeth took a shower and changed out of her scrubs. Then she grabbed her phone and purse and drove to the house. She wondered what in the world Jack could want to see again.

When she arrived, his truck was out front so she headed inside. "Jack?"

He walked out of the dining room and leaned against the door frame. "Hi, sweets. I'm glad you're here. I really would like your opinion on something." He took her hand and led her toward the dining room.

"Alright. But I don't understand how you are in here. Where's Carol?" She gasped. "Jack?" The room was set up with candles and roses. He had set up two plates, two glasses and silverware for both. There was also a roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans waiting.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah. How did you do all this? I don't know if we should be eating dinner in someone else's house."

"That's the beauty of it, Beth. We aren't in someone else's house. We are in our house."

"We got it?!"

"Yep. Its ours."

"Oh my gosh!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a sweet kiss. "This is great. I'm so excited."

"Me too."

"I cant wait to paint! And decorate! Are you going to move in first or should I? I mean, I need to sell my house so I guess you should. There are so many things to think about."

"Wow, Beth. I was thinking I could move in as soon as we close on it. I think escrow is sixty days."

"That's a long time."

"Not in the grand scheme of things." He pulled out the chair closest to her. "Why don't we eat? We have plenty of time to figure things out."

"You didn't cook this here, did you?"

"No, no electricity at the moment. Plus, we haven't closed. Honestly I'm surprised Carol let us come."

"Gosh, this chicken tastes so good. And these cheesy potatoes. Yum!"

He smiled and took a bite. "Not bad."

After eating, they cleaned up, locked up and took the leftovers and things out to his truck. "I thought maybe we could take a drive? It's still early."

"Sure. Let's drive, Jack."

He pulled the door open for her and closed it and then headed to the driver's seat. "I thought it might be fun to see the new neighborhood."

"Okay. Maybe there's a coffee shop nearby?"

"I know there's one by the bistro but I'm not sure of around here. Let's go find out."

To Elizabeth's delight, there was one about a mile from the house. A cute little café named Stella's.

They ordered two decaf lattes and snuggled into a booth in the back. "So, what do you think of Venice?" he asked, kissing her temple.

"I have never been there but if its half as romantic as our first gondola ride here in Boston, I'd be very pleased."

"For a honeymoon is what I was thinking."

"Honeymoon, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Babe, you do realize we are missing one key thing right?"

"What's that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you haven't actually asked me to marry you. I'm pretty sure that's a good first step."

"Soon, sweets. Soon."

"How soon?"

He leaned forward and tickled her lips with a soft kiss. "Soon."

"Tomorrow?"

"No," he chuckled.

"Next week?"

"Nope."

"Tonight?" He kissed her again, lingering, tasting.

"Shhh. I love you, Beth. Forever."

"Right back atcha, Chef."


	16. Chapter 16

Jack smiled as he looked at the porch swing. It was 6 foot long and had a wonderfully soft blue cushion on it, perfect for rocking babies, as Beth put it. It had been 90 days since they had closed on the house so it was officially theirs a month before. It was now late June and the weather was pretty warm but beautiful. Perfect for what he had planned that evening.

Jack had paid to have a landscaper come in and plant rose bushes and spruce up the yard. He had painted the porch railing, swing, and trim white to contrast against the sky blue of the siding. Inside, he had painted the dining and living room to her specifications and found a nice carved bed and matching dresser for the master bedroom.

The hardest part wasn't finding time for all those things. It was keeping Elizabeth from coming out to see him when he was home and working on it. He had managed though.

Now, tonight she was coming to see what he had done and even though she wasn't a surprise type of girl, she would like the one he had planned. He was sure.

…..

At Boston Memorial

Elizabeth and Faith talked in the lounge at lunch. Faith had just started back from maternity leave and she was showing her pictures.

"Faith, he is so cute. Look at those dimples and blue eyes."

"Yeah, he is." Faith stifled a yawn and then smiled. "He is pretty amazing except for the not sleeping all night thing. That is getting pretty old."

"Just a phase. He will get there."

"I know, but in the meantime, I have dark circles under my eyes and I feel like I could fall asleep at any moment."

"But it's wonderful?"

"So so wonderful. I can't believe the amount of love I have for him."

"I can't wait to feel that too."

"Well, imagine how much you love Jack multiplied by like a hundred."

"Wow that is amazing."

"Exactly."

"I'm going to see him at our house tonight."

"Oh yeah? That's exciting."

"It is. I haven't seen it in like a month. He keeps telling me that he is working on it and he wants me to wait to see it when he is done."

"Well, that sounds mysterious."

"Yeah. I thought so too."

After work, Elizabeth drove home, took a shower, changed into her new blue and white flowered off-the-shoulder dress and headed to the new house. She was excited.

As she pulled into the driveway she smiled. The roses looked amazing. The painting he did was perfect. She got out and walked up the brick paved walkway to the porch. Jack grinned and held out his hand for her to take.

"Good evening, sweets. Care to join me?"

She looked where he gestured and smiled. "A swing? Oh! It's so perfect, babe!"

"It's comfy too. Come see." They sat on the swing and she smiled.

"Wow."

"Good for rocking our babies?"

"Yes. Beyond good."

Jack slid his hand into his pocket and fingered the ring. He gently took her left hand in his and smiled. This was it. It was the moment both of them had been getting ready for.

He slipped his hand out of the pocket and placed the ring on her finger. "Beth, I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, her eyes transfixed on the ring. It was absolutely gorgeous.

"I never imagined how complete and perfect it would feel to love you. I need you with me, Beth. Every moment of every day and I'm lost when you're not."

"Oh, Jack."

"Will you be my wife?"

"Yes. Of course I will."

He touched her cheek and smiled and then slowly claimed her lips, loving the fact that he was now kissing his fiancé, not his girlfriend. It made the experience all the more sweet and meaningful. Elizabeth pulled back after a long moment and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Jack, I want to get married in September, in Westgate Park in the city."

"Like two months from now?"

"Yes. I don't want to wait anymore."

"September what?" He didn't want to wait either.

"5th?"

"Okay. I guess I better make arrangements for Venice, hmm?"

A while later, he led her through the house, room by room, holding her hand in his.

"For our room, I found something really nice." He took her into the master and smiled.

"Oh, That's beautiful. The detail is so lovely." She touched the wood and sat down testing the mattress. "Soft."

"Is it? That's good."

"Wait, you don't sleep here?"

"Nah."

"Where do you sleep?"

"Couch."

"Jack, why?"

"It doesn't feel right to sleep in our bed without you."

"Aww. Sweet man." She hugged his waist and kissed his cheek. "The couch can't be too comfortable."

"I guess not but it's only two months until I don't need to sleep on it anymore."

"And I'll be right here with you."

"In my arms," he added, kissing her soft lips.

"I can't wait."

The moment she got home, she smiled at the For Sale sign in her lawn. She had had one offer but it had been a lowball offer so she didn't accept it. She knew the price was fair for her neighborhood and size of her home so she wasn't worried. It would happen.

As she walked in the door, she flipped on her light in the foyer. The light caught her engagement ring just perfectly. Three main diamonds, the middle one larger than the ones on either side. Then there were a few smaller diamonds on the band as well. It was amazing.

She giggled and pulled out her phone, sending Faith and Julie a text with a picture of her ring sparkling in the light. "Guess what!"

….

The next day after work…

Elizabeth flipped through an InStyle Wedding Magazine for ideas. There was an article about putting together a simple but stylish wedding on a budget. That was exactly what she wanted to do.

"Number 1, keep guest list small for a more intimate affair." Elizabeth smiled. She was all for that. She wanted her parents, sisters and families and Faith and Carson. That was it.

"Number 2, hold the ceremony outdoors." Check. It was going to be at the park.

"Number 3, make your own invitations." Elizabeth absolutely thought that was a great idea but she didn't have the creativity for that. However, Faith did. She made a note to ask her.

"Number 4, buy dresses off the rack and pick out two or three styles for bridesmaids to choose from." That was a good idea for sure. She was only planning on Faith and Julie but it would save time for sure.

Her phone rang before she got to number 5. "Hello?"

"Well, if it isn't Beth Thatcher, Doctor Extraordinaire."

"Rosie! It's so good to hear your voice. How are you?"

"Oh, perfect as perfect can be."

"And how are you really?" Elizabeth could hear it in her voice. Something was wrong.

"Oh, Beth! I'm not good. Not good at all." Elizabeth fought rolling her eyes and concentrated on the fact that her best friend from college was calling her after six months of quiet.

"What's going on?"

"I lost my job."

"You are an event planner. How do you get fired from that?"

"I don't know! My boss said I didn't listen to what the client really wanted but that's absurd! They don't know what they really want. That's why they hire me!"

She now fought the urge to giggle. She loved Rosie Leveaux to death but if you didn't know her well, you would think all she thought about was herself. However, Elizabeth knew that underneath, she cared about doing what was right. About making people happy. She just didn't always know how to show that.

"Beth? Beeethhh? Anyone there?"

"Yes, yes. I'm here."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"I'm moving back to Boston and I need a place to stay. Any ideas?"

"Well….there are apartments that are for rent, I bet." Elizabeth heard the doorbell ring. "Hang on. There's someone at my door."

Elizabeth opened the door and Rosie walked right in, wheeling a large suitcase behind her.

"Oh, nice house. How many bedrooms?"

"Hello to you too, Rosie."

"How many?"

"Two, but…"

"I just need to stay a few weeks, maybe a month tops. Well…six weeks. Just long enough to get my business off the ground."

"Rosie…"

"No, you won't even know I'm here. I'll just make myself at home." She started walking toward the hallway.

"Freeze."

Rosie turned around and looked at her. "What?"

"I don't mind if you stay here but we really need to talk about a few things."

"Do you mind if I take a shower and change first? Oh and I'm starving so I do need to eat too."

Elizabeth could see she now had a roommate. It would be interesting to say the least.

"Towels are in the closet in the bathroom. And when you come out, we can go grab something to eat. I know just where we should go."

…..

They were seated in a table by the window at the Bistro. "You've been here before?" Rosie asked.

"Yes, quite a lot."

"You know the chef?"

"Yep. I know him," she said, strategically moving her left hand closer to Rosie.

Rosie however didn't look up from the menu.

"Hey, Doc."

"Hey Clara. This is my friend Rosie."

"Nice to meet you."

"Are your lobsters fresh or frozen?" Rosie asked, still perusing the menu.

"She means nice to meet you too," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes.

"Fresh," Clara laughed. "Chef Thornton would never use frozen seafood."

"Well, as it should be. I'll take the lobster bisque and caesar salad, dressing on the side."

"And for Doc?"

"I think I'll try the Chef's special tonight."

"Meatloaf and mashed potatoes it is!"

"I hope she was telling the truth," Rosie whispered loudly. "I'll be able to tell."

"Rosie, I can see you haven't changed a lot over the last six months."

"Am I supposed to change?"

"No, of course not."

Rosie watched with shock as a very handsome man in a chef's coat walked over to them and gave Elizabeth a kiss. "Hi, sweets. Good to see you."

Elizabeth blushed and completely enjoyed the fact that Rosie was speechless. "You too, babe. This is Rosie, Jack. Rosie, my fiancé and one of the owners and chefs here, Jack Thornton."

"What? Fiancé?"

"Yep, for about the last twenty four hours or so," Elizabeth said, smiling up at Jack.

She grabbed Elizabeth's hand and checked out the ring. "Gorgeous."

"I think so too."

"When's the big day? I'm guessing next June?"

"September 5th."

"That's a long engagement."

"This year."

"What? That's like 9 weeks away! That simply won't do for a perfect wedding. Leave this to me! I'll make it a day you'll never forget."

Jack raised his eyebrows and smirked at Elizabeth. "I'll let you tell her, sweets. Talk later?" He bent down and kissed her twice. "I love you."

"Love you too."

"Tell what?" Rosie asked.

"Simple, Rosie. That's what we want. No negotiations. Twenty guests max. Outdoors in the park in the evening. Appetizers and cupcakes at the reception here and then we are off to Venice."

"Oh, well, what if it rains?"

"We get wet."

"And look like drowned rats. I think not. I guess I better find out if the city has any rules about putting up a tent."

Elizabeth shook her head at her friend. Apparently "Hurricane Rosie" had made landfall and was ready to do some damage. Elizabeth just needed to figure out how to stop her from leveling everything.


	17. Chapter 17

The Bistro, a week later

Jack chatted with Lee as they prepped for the day. "She is so out there, Lee. Very blunt and to the point and bossy. Beth says she just comes off that way and is the sweetest person but I have yet to see that."

"Is she just visiting?"

"That's another thing. She moved here without a place to live and just moved into Beth's guest room."

"She let her?"

"I don't think she had a choice."

"Huh."

"So, I was thinking…."

"Oh boy. Dude, why do I get the feeling I am not going to like whatever you were thinking?"

"Well, if we maybe all went to dinner somewhere…"

"Jack, honestly, after what you just mentioned, why would I want to do that?"

"Maybe she is completely different in a group setting."

"I really would rather not."

"Okay. But since you are my best man and she is in the wedding too, there are bound to be times you are with her. This way, you would already know her."

…..

Jack told Elizabeth his idea that evening on the phone. She thought maybe rather than going out a date, maybe they could get take out and bring it to the new house.

So that was what they did the coming weekend. On Sunday night, the restaurant was closed so Lee, Jack, Rosie, and Elizabeth gathered at the new house.

Rosie was so quiet, Elizabeth was convinced something was wrong with her so she pulled her into the bedroom and asked. "You feeling okay?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"Yes." What Beth didn't know was Rosie was completely out of her element around Lee. He was funny and adorable. His eyes were gorgeous and his smile made her stomach all fluttery. And the fact that he could cook was great, considering she couldn't at all. "I….Lee….is he seeing someone?"

Elizabeth smirked and let out a giggle. "Not that I know of. I'm guessing Jack wouldn't have suggested this whole thing if he was though."

"True. Right."

"So, you like him, don't you?"

"I don't know him."

"But first impressions…"

"Yeah. He's adorable."

"And you want to get to know him better?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, maybe try acting a little more like yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you are so quiet I thought you were sick. If he is going to give you a chance, even as a friend, don't you think he should know the real you?"

"The real me?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Yeah, you know. Loud, a bit full of yourself, dramatic."

"I am not full of myself." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at her. "Okay, well, maybe a little but don't you think it would be better not to show that side until he knows me better?"

"Nope. Honesty is the best policy."

…..

In the kitchen….

"What do you think they are talking about in there?" Lee whispered to Jack.

"My guess is you."

"What? Why me?"

"Well, I saw her watching you and I have never known her to be so quiet. My guess is she has a crush on you."

"Heaven help me."

The girls joined them in the kitchen and everyone dished up their own plate of food.

Lee watched Rosie as she very carefully put four different things on her plate, making sure each separate item didn't touch the others.

He didn't mind her being particular about things. What bothered him more was this woman that he was determined not to like, picked the same four dishes he had. There were about six choices to pull from and she chose those exact ones.

Then he listened to her chat with Elizabeth about the new mystery book she was reading from her favorite author. It was his favorite author too.

Next, she actually asked him a question. "Is that your '66 Mustang out there?"

He was shocked. She knew the year? "Um, yeah. It's mine."

"It's gorgeous. I've always wanted one but I never had the money."

"Maybe we could go for a ride after dinner?" The question surprised everyone at the table, including Lee himself. "I mean…if you'd like to."

"Only if you let me drive."

"I don't know about that. It's a classic."

"I am more than capable, Lee."

What was wrong with his brain? Even her saying his name pulled him further in. He really wanted to get to know her and it made absolutely no sense.

"Alright. But only if you let me buy you coffee."

"Deal."

…..

As she drove, a bit fast for his liking, she opened up a bit. "So, I can imagine what Jack told you about me."

"What would that be?"

"I'm loud. Bossy. Opinionated."

"Well, I don't remember him saying opinionated."

"Well, I am. I know it. But that's not all there is to me."

"For instance?"

"I think maybe that's something you need to figure out for yourself."

"Mysterious," he said with a grin. "I already know you don't like your food touching and you like Dan Myers mysteries and my car."

"Yep."

"No hints? Okay, let's see. What is your favorite color?"

"Blue." Like the color of your eyes, she thought to herself.

"Favorite food."

"Spinach ricotta ravioli," she said, a twinkle in her eye.

"I guess I'm going to have to cook that for you one day. It's one of my dishes at the Bistro."

"Promise?"

"Well, we will have to make plans."

…

Jack wrapped his arm around Elizabeth as they snuggled on the couch. "Well, that went better than I thought it would."

"She was so funny. Rosie Leveaux speechless is not something I have seen often."

"Fifty six days," he told her, switching the subject. "Then it will be you and me, forever."

She met his lips with hers briefly. "We could just stay here instead of going to Venice."

"What? No way. Somehow if we did that, one or the both of us would end up working. I don't want to sacrifice one minute of those two weeks."

"Venice it is then."

She touched his left hand ring finger. "What?"

"Just imagining how your hand will look with the wedding ring I bought you," she mentioned.

"You bought my ring?"

"Yep. I can't wait. It's like us telling the world that we belong to each other."

"We do belong to each other."

"Yes, but it's an outward symbol. It means this wonderful, handsome man is mine forever. So keep your hands off him."

He laughed. "Don't worry. Your hands on me are the only ones I'll ever want."

…..

Stella's Coffee

"Favorite musical group," Rosie asked before sipping her coffee.

"Don't laugh but I like REM."

"Like from the 90s?"

"Yep. They are my favorite."

"Siblings?" she wondered.

"A brother. Andy. He sort of raised me."

"How much older is he?"

"Ten years. Our parents died when he was twenty two and I was twelve. We were all we had left. He worked three jobs to keep us fed and a roof over our heads."

Rosie gently placed her hand over his on the table. "What happened?"

"To our parents?" she nodded. "Car accident. Drunk driver hit them. Apparently they died on impact which is a blessing, I guess."

"I'm sorry, Lee."

He shook his head. "It's been a long time. Twenty years. The holidays are hard but I'm making it."

"Do you ever get lonely? I mean, do you ever want someone to share these things with?"

"I have someone. I have Andy and Jack."

"And me?"

"Do I?"

"You do."

"I'd like for us to be friends, Rosie."

"So would I, with maybe a potential for more?"

"If I'm being honest, it would be a first for me."

"Which part?"

"Well, let's just say, I don't date much. Ever."

They threw their empty cups away and walked out the door to the car. "I find that hard to believe."

"Its true," he confessed. "My brother told me I shouldn't date until after I get my education because it would be too much of a distraction. So after college and then culinary school, I went to work. I work a lot, Rosie."

"I hate to break it to you, Lee, but this could be considered a date." She gave him his keys. "And you did very well."

"If this is a date, does that mean I get a goodnight kiss?"

She smiled as she buckled up. "Kissing on the first date is never a good idea."

"No?"

"Nope. It's more of a third or fourth date kinda thing."

"So for date number two…do you want to see a movie?" Lee asked.

"Sure. No superheroes. That's a Beth thing. I'd rather see anything but that."

"Noted."

….

The next day…

Elizabeth and Rosie headed to Connie's Confections in the city to order the cupcakes for the reception.

"I don't understand why you want cupcakes and not a real cake," Rosie mentioned. "You can't cut cupcakes."

"Yes you can. Now, Rosie, if you are going to help me plan this wedding that's in 55 days, I need you to think outside your tight little box and respect what we want. Otherwise, I'll fire you myself."

"Yeah yeah. Fine."

"Thank you."

They ordered three dozen cupcakes, half champagne raspberry and have devil's food cake with buttercream frosting. Next they headed to Rylie's Roses and ordered boutonnieres and bouquets for the wedding party and parents and then flowers for decorating the arch that Elizabeth was purchasing for the backdrop to get married under.

Finally, they met Faith, who brought Colton, and Julie, who brought Simon, at the wedding dress shop to look at dresses for Elizabeth, Faith and Julie.

It took about an hour, but Faith and Julie agreed on a blush colored, lace, knee length dress and Elizabeth found an absolutely beautiful ivory lace dress.

Elizabeth and Rosie finally went home after buying supplies to make the invitations and Rosie went to work on those right away while Elizabeth headed into the hospital.

Elizabeth turned the Bluetooth on and dialed Jack.

"Hey, babe."

"Hi, Beth. How did it go?"

"Good. We ordered the flowers, the cupcakes and we all found dresses. Rosie is working on the invitations."

"Great. I told Miles and Henry what we want for appetizers and they said they would take care of it."

"That's amazing. What about the honeymoon?"

"Booked! I found a walking tour of Venice and of course the Gondola Ride down the Grand Canal. And then I booked us on the tour of Murano and Burano. They take us by private water taxi and we can spend the day looking at glass and lace workshops. And then I thought we could do a wine tasting."

"Wow. That sounds wonderful, Jack."

"And our hotel looks amazing. It has canal views and since I got the honeymoon suite, there's a jacuzzi in the room."

"I cannot wait!"

"Me either."

Elizabeth worked until midnight and then went home, listening to her messages on the way home. One was from Jack asking her when her next night off was. The second was from her realtor.

"Beth, this is Amy. I just wanted to talk to you about setting up some showings. I have two different people interested in your house. Give me a call asap."

"Yes!"

The next morning she would call her and set it up. What a day it had been!


	18. Chapter 18

A week later…48 days until wedding

Elizabeth sat on the counter in their new house, watching Jack cook them dinner.

"Are you sure I'm going to like this, Jack?"

"Yes, tofu is delicious when you cook it right and with the right seasonings. Can you pour the rice in the boiling water, please?"

"You're the chef."

"That's right. Trust me. Terriyaki Tofu and veggies over rice is a hit with my parents and I've cooked it for my brother who is the pickiest eater on the planet."

She got down, poured the rice in the water and leaned back against the counter. "You're pretty cute, you know that?"

"I think you've mentioned that once or twice," he said with a grin. "You're pretty cute too."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him. "So chances are, our babies are bound to be pretty cute."

"Chances are," he agreed, touching his lips to hers briefly. "Having a family with you is so amazing to think about." He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. "I think about it all the time."

"So do I. I saw my gynecologist today and she said she didn't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to get pregnant right away."

"That's good."

"Yeah. Its exciting."

She couldn't wait to decorate the second bedroom for a nursery/guest room. She had found what she wanted on Pinterest and couldn't wait to actually recreate it.

…

The next few weeks went so fast. More preparations for the wedding, more showings at Elizabeth's house, more plans being made.

"What if I bought your house?" Rosie asked as they ate dinner.

"You? I thought you were low on money."

"I have a savings. I mean, what if I rent it from you until I get my business off the ground? Shouldn't take too long."

"Alright. I suppose that will work. If you're serious, I'll let my realtor know I'm taking it off the market."

"I'm serious. I can run my business from here too. Make the bedroom I'm using as an office."

"Deal." They agreed on the rent and Elizabeth called her realtor making it official.

Elizabeth headed into her bedroom to change for work. As she changed, she called Jack and put him on speaker.

"Hi, hon."

"Hey, Beth. Heading to work?"

"Yeah. In a few. I have some news."

"What's that?"

"Rosie wants to rent my house and then buy it once her business gets off the ground."

"Really? Okay. I guess that's one less thing we need to worry about."

"Yeah. On Sunday, I was hoping maybe we could spend some time together. Maybe go to a movie?"

"Sure. I'd love to see a movie."

She pulled her scrub shirt over her head and grabbed her bag. "Alright, hon. I'm off to work. I love you."

"I love you too, Beth. Be safe."

"I will."

….

Lee knocked on Elizabeth's door, hoping Rosie was home. They had gone on a few dates in the past few weeks since they had met and he had fallen for her. All her crazy words and dramatic ideas made him laugh and love her even more.

"Oh, Lee. Come in. I'm just working on my website. Do you have any idea how to do this?"

"I do actually. I helped set up The Bistro's website."

"Great." She sat down at the table and stuck the pen she was holding between her teeth, focusing on the laptop.

He smiled and pulled another chair next to her. Then he sat, moving close enough that their knees touched.

She didn't react so he put his arm around her and leaned toward her. "This looks good, Rosie, but you should change this lettering. It doesn't say "wedding planner" to me."

"I'm not a wedding planner. I'm a party planner. Big difference."

"Is it? I mean a wedding is a party I suppose."

"If I make it all loopy and scripty, it won't convey anything but romance. But a five year old's birthday party is not romantic."

"Did you just say scripty?" he said, chuckling.

"Yes. It's a word."

"No, its not."

He kissed her cheek and then grabbed her hand, threading his fingers through hers so she had no choice but to stop working. "Lee, I'm trying to get this done."

"Rosie, forget about the website for a moment. Think about the fact that I came to you tonight and what the reason for that might be."

"I…um…I'm not sure." For some reason, the man next to her had the power to render her thoughtless.

"Let me see if I can help you figure it out." He touched her cheek with his fingertips and slowly, gently pressed his lips to hers. When he felt her wrap her arms around him, he deepened the kiss, leaving her no doubt how he felt and leaving them both breathless when they separated.

"Lee, I thought you might never get around to kissing me." She absentmindedly played with the collar on his shirt. "I'm glad I was wrong." Her lips found his again, briefly.

"I need you to stay, Rosie. Here, in Boston. I know you said you weren't sure because of the housing situation and all but I really need you here."

"Lee…I…"

"Please. I will help you find a place to live and I'll help you get your business up and going but I don't want you to leave."

"Lee, please, let me finish."

"Sorry."

"I told Beth that I want to rent this house from her and run my business from here. I'm not going anywhere."

"You're not?"

"No."

"Oh, thank goodness." He kissed her yet again and leaned his forehead against hers. "I'm falling in love with you, Rosemary. I need you to know that."

"That's fast," she whispered.

"I know and you don't need to feel like you have to say it. If you don't feel it, I'd rather wait to hear it until you do."

"You talk alot, honey bunny," she said with a giggle.

"I guess I'm nervous."

"Lee, I love you too, even though you talk a lot."

"Very funny."

"And even though your favorite band is REM."

"Yeah yeah."

"And somehow, despite me being full of myself and bossy and opinionated, you still love me."

"Because I know, that underneath those things, inside of you, is a loving heart. A giving, truly wonderful person that I'm lucky to have in my life."

….

Sunday night…

Elizabeth slipped her hand into Jack's as they walked into the movie theater. "Captain Marvel?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Yep. I'll get the food," she told him, giving him an excited kiss and walking off.

Once he joined her, she had a large bucket of popcorn and two large drinks. He took a drink and they headed into the theater.

She chose the back row and sat down in the far corner against the wall.

"You know, you're going to have to climb over a dozen people to use the bathroom."

"Yeah, but there's more privacy over here," she told him with a wink.

"Good point."

"You know, we haven't been out to a movie in a long time. This is gonna be fun."

And it was. As soon as the lights went down, he put up the arm between them and slipped his arm behind her, pulling her closer.

Even though the movie wasn't romantic, just sitting close to her, stealing kisses and holding her was very satisfying.

As they drove from the theater later, he mentioned getting some coffee at Stella's so they headed there and sat in a booth to sip their decaf.

She looked up at him and smiled. "We need to make sure we do this after we are married. Date night is pretty great."

"Yeah it is."

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. I got my passport in the mail yesterday."

"That's good. I didn't want to go on our honeymoon alone," he teased.

"Not a chance. I'd just stowaway in your suitcase."

"26 days," he whispered.

"Yeah. Hopefully it will go fast."

….

Sixteen days later, ten days before the wedding.

Charlotte and Bill arrived from Seattle and moved into the guest room at the new house. They would stay there to take care of Shrimp for the two weeks the newlyweds were gone.

Elizabeth worked everyday and packed up her things each night until finally the boxes were ready to transport to the new house.

Rosie was grateful for the help Lee had given her on her website. She had already booked a birthday party and a baby shower for the week following the wedding.

Jack worked longer hours too, training another sous chef for his absence. He wanted to be confident that Lee would not have stress while he was away.

Finally the night before the wedding came and it was time for the rehearsal. Everything turned out fine except it was pouring rain and everyone stood in the park under umbrellas as they rehearsed.

Rosie had secured a large white tent that they would erect the next morning if it looked like rain again even though Elizabeth assured her the sun would shine.

After rehearsing, everyone headed to The Bistro for dinner which neither Lee nor Jack cooked.

Everyone had either filet mignon or lobster risotto along with a select house wine. For dessert, crème brulee was served courtesy of the new sous chef Philippe.

After dinner, Elizabeth headed back to the house with Jack, Charlotte, and Bill to unpack some of her boxes. Mostly she wanted to put off saying goodnight again.

Instead of unpacking though, Jack had other ideas.

He made them some tea and led her by the hand to the living room to sit on the couch.

"So I have a wedding gift for you," he said, pulling a box out of the side table drawer.

"You don't want me to wait?"

"You can but I'm thinking its something you'll want to pack for Venice."

"Oh I think I want to wait. Until tomorrow night."

"Okay."

She pulled an envelope from her purse. "This is for you. You can't open it until tomorrow."

The envelope said simply, "To my husband."

"Alright. Tomorrow it is."

She took his hand and held on tight. "I can't believe its tomorrow, Jack. I can't believe we will finally be married."

"Nervous?"

"No. It's all I want. To be yours forever."

He kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger a moment before moving to her right cheek and then her left and finally slowly, claiming her lips. "I love you, Beth."

She let go of his hand and laid her hand on his cheek, guiding his lips back to hers. She took her time pouring her love and emotions into the kiss. Then he leaned back and stared into her eyes.

"We need to stop. You are such a temptation." He kissed her once more, savoring the taste and feel of her lips before standing.

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"No, don't be sorry. Never be sorry for showing me how you feel, alright?" She nodded as she stood up.

"I probably should go then."

He walked her to the door and then stopped her from opening it. "Just to be clear, the last thing I wanted to do was stop kissing you."

"The last thing I want to do is say goodbye again."

He gave her one last kiss and a wink. "One last time, sweetheart."

"Thank goodness."


	19. Chapter 19

Jack awoke early the next morning. The moment his eyes caught the bright morning sun he smiled.

"Finally." He laughed. "Today's the day."

As he sat up in bed he heard the loud snore of his faithful dog. Sometime during the night the little bulldog had found its way into Jack's bed.

"When I get back from my honeymoon, Shrimp, things will be different around here. For starters, you're in Elizabeth's spot right now."

Turning his chubby neck, the dog gave Jack a look that said "Nice try."

Sitting on the nightstand was the letter Elizabeth had given him the night before. Jack picked it up and brought the envelope to his nose. He wasn't sure how, but it smelled like her. His heart raced as he took in her scent.

He looked over at Shrimp. "Morning of the wedding is close enough right? I can open it now." Shrimp seemed uninterested in anything other than getting another few minutes of sleep. "I'm opening it."

"Good morning, husband,

Knowing you, you are reading this as soon as you wake up because you just couldn't wait. That's one of the things I love most about you. You are predictable but you also never cease to surprise and amaze me.

Before I met you, I didn't know what it meant to be in love. To love someone so much that it physically hurt when we weren't together. To love someone so much that I would give up anything just to see them for a moment. To love someone so much that the idea of having a family with that person brings me so much joy that I can hardly express it.

That's what you give me, Jack. You give my life meaning. You give me purpose and love and I will never get enough of you.

I promise to love you as long as I have breath and I promise to support you in whatever choices you make.

I know that our life will be filled with ups and downs and I know that it won't always be easy but I feel so lucky to be marrying you. I know that you will always have mine and our children's best interests in mind when you make decisions that affect us.

You are the love of my life, Jack Thornton.

Here's to spending the rest of forever with you.

Your wife,

Elizabeth"

Wiping a stray tear from the corner of his eye, Jack reached for his phone and texted Elizabeth.

"I love you, soon-to-be Mrs. Thornton."

Within seconds, he had a reply from her.

"You opened the letter, didn't you?"

"Yup."

"It says right there on the top, 'to my husband, lol"

"Close enough."

"I knew it, lol. See you soon. I'll be the one walking towards you in white."

"I'll be there. I'll be the one looking like he's marrying the woman of his dreams."

…..

A few hours later, it was time. Elizabeth got ready at her house, now Rosie's, with her mom, Charlotte and the bridesmaids and Vi. She turned side to side, looking herself up and down in the full length mirror Rosie had brought down from her room. The dress was sleeveless, and covered in lace. It was exquisite and fit her like a glove.

"Jack's not gonna know what hit him when you walk down that aisle!'" Julie giggled.

"I really hope he likes it," Elizabeth said, smoothing the fabric from her hips.

"Oh he will, trust me."

Over at their new home, Jack rushed down the stairs in his navy suit. It had been tailored perfectly for him. The light peach tie and brown loafers accented the suit well.

"There's the man of the hour! Ready to go?" Bill said as he, Tom and Lee stood from the couch. They were each dressed like Jack.

"Yup." Jack adjusted his tie for the fifth time since putting it on.

"Good. The car's outside. Let's get you to your bride."

"Be right there." Jack looked at Tom. "Can I have a moment?"

"Sure," Tom smiled. Once the rest of the men were outside, Tom turned to his brother. "Dude, you ready for this? No cold feet, I hope."

"Nope. Never been more ready for anything in my life."

"Good." Tom smacked him on the back. "Beth is great. Perfect for you."

"She is. I'm the luckiest man."

"So what's up?"

"I love Bill, you know that, but…"

"You're missing Dad right now."

"Yeah. Silly right?"

"Nope. Bill has been great. We couldn't ask for a better step dad. That doesn't erase Dad though. Bill has said time and time again that he isn't Dad's replacement. It makes sense you'd miss him today. I do too."

"Think he'd like Beth?" Jack knew the answer, he just wanted to hear it.

"He'd love her. He'd be so proud of you."

Jack gave his brother a hug.

"Come on," Tom said wiping his eyes. "Let's get you hitched."

….

Just as Elizabeth had projected, the weather in the park was perfect for a wedding. A string trio played up at the front where Jack, the groomsmen and the pastor waited. Black metal lanterns with white candles were hanging from the trees with rope, giving the park an elegant and romantic feel. At the front sat a beautiful archway made up of birch tree branches and a very large display of white, and light red flowers. Rosie did a great job balancing her maid of honor duties while also playing wedding planner. Everything was turning out just how Elizabeth had envisioned.

Jack kept his eyes fixed on the path that led to the green meadow he was standing in, anxiously awaiting the sight of Elizabeth.

"She's coming, Jack," Lee said giving Jack a nudge. "Nothing will keep her away."

"I know." Jack smiled. "I'm just excited."

Just then, two limos appeared in the distance. The first limo pulled up to the aisle. Tom walked down and opened the door, giving his hand to his mom and walking her down to her seat beside Bill. Next, Lee walked down and offering Grace his arm, he escorted her to her seat with Viola, her fiancé Matthew and Mike, Julie's husband and their son.

The music changed as the second limo pulled up.

"Here you go, man," Lee smiled.

The anticipation was rising to an all new high as Jack watched William come around from the front passenger side and open the door. As the music played, Julie, Faith and Rosie made their way to the front one by one.

William, standing tall and strong locked eyes with Jack and nodded. Jack nodded in return, then turned to the string trio telling them it was time. The crowd rose as the bridal march began and Elizabeth stepped out of the limo.

"Oh man…" Jack felt the air leave his lungs. She was a vision. An angel. Perfect for him in every way.

Elizabeth took her father's arm. "Ready to give me away, Dad?"

"No," he smiled at her. "But Jack's a good man, I couldn't ask for more for you."

"Thank you, Dad." She kissed his cheek and took her last few steps as Elizabeth Thatcher.

…..

Jazz music filled the Bistro as wedding guest mingled around eating hors d'oeuvre while waiting for the bride and groom and the rest of the wedding party to arrive from taking pictures at the park.

A couple miles away, sitting alone in the back of the limo, Jack's kissed his wife again and again. No longer feeling the need to hold back.

"Are you sure we should go to the reception?" He asked with his lips against her neck. "I can thinking of something else that we could do right now."

"You have no idea how tempting that sounds," she giggled.

"Trust me. I bet I do." He winked.

"We can't just not show up. It's our reception. It's at your bistro."

"You're right. So… maybe we show up an hour late?"

"Jack!"

They got to their reception on time and stayed for almost two hours. Never venturing out of reach of the other. If they weren't holding hands, their arms were around one another. Each time someone tapped their fork to their glass, Jack would waste no time giving Elizabeth a kiss that made the room cheer and his bride blush.

When it was time to leave, they said their goodbyes, and rushed through the sea of bubbles from their friends out the door to their car.

"Where are we headed?" Elizabeth asked once they were on the road.

"Our suite. We have it for the night and then tomorrow we fly out to Venice."

"Venice…" Elizabeth smiled dreamily. "I can't wait."

Jack reached over the center console in the car and took her hand. Finally, they were alone with nowhere to be an no one else to worry about but each other.

A few minutes later, Jack pulled the car up to the valet at the hotel.

Once they arrived in their suite, Jack turned to her. "Well Mrs. Thornton," Jack said leaving a tiny kiss on her nose. "What shall we do? Did you want to order dinner?"

"Yes, but not right now." Her voice was smooth as silk as she stepped closer, loosening Jack's tie. "I have something else I'd like to do with my husband."

"Oh really?" Playing along, Jack took off his suit jacket and tossed it over onto a nearby chair. "This thing you have in mind, you think maybe we're a bit overdressed for?"

"Quite possibly."

"I think I like where this is going, but I could use a hint."

The playful, sexy grin Elizabeth gave Jack was very new to him. She looked unbelievably gorgeous as she stood there, the anticipation building in them both.

"Alright, here's your hint."

If Jack didn't know her intentions before, it was becoming abundantly clear as she kissed the clean shaved skin on his neck, undoing one button at a time of his dress shirt at the same time. Turning to look her in her crystal blue eyes, Jack whispered, "No rush, love. Only if you're ready."

"I'm ready, Jack," she whispered back. "Are you?"

With a big smile he groaned, "So ready."

Jack picked Elizabeth up in his arms, carrying her to the bed.

"I love you, Beth.."

"I love you, Jack.. Forever."

Elizabeth awoke hours later, wrapped up warmly under the covers in her husband's embrace. She smiled, thinking of all that had happened that day. All the memories and new experiences they shared together. Husband and wife.

She rolled away slightly to check the time, but couldn't get far.

"Don't go," a sleepy Jack mumbled. His eyes still closed.

"I'm not going anywhere. Just checking the time."

Pulling her close again, Jack kissed her exposed back. "We've got all the time in the world."

"True," she giggled. "I just figured you might be getting hungry."

Jack opened his eyes and gazed at his wife as she rolled around to face him. "You're beautiful."

Caressing his cheek, Elizabeth leaned in for kiss. "Are you hungry?"

"Not for food."


	20. Chapter 20

Two weeks later, Cambridge, Mass.

"Oh gosh, that gondola ride! That was amazing," she told him as they looked at all the pictures she had taken with the camera he bought her. The gondola had been similar to when he had taken her on the Charles River but it was absolutely even more romantic. There was a violinist and wine and just being with her husband….nothing could beat that. There was something about floating down the middle of the city. She would never forget it.

They did a lot of sightseeing but they stayed in their suite a lot too. Who wouldn't want to stay in a suite where the view was of a super romantic city and there was a Jacuzzi and a king size bed? It was perfection.

As they continued reminiscing, they heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Elizabeth told him. She was almost positive who it was. And she was right.

Rosie walked right in as soon as she opened the door. "Thank goodness you're home!"

"What do you mean? You knew we were coming home this morning."

"I need advice. I am so in over my head here." Rosie paced back and forth.

"Rosie, I will be glad to help you tomorrow but this isn't a good time."

"Beth! Seriously."

"I'm sorry, Rosie. Look, we just got home and I want to spend time with my new husband before we both head back to work tomorrow." Rosie stared at her for a moment and walked back to the door. "Rosie, I will call you tomorrow at my lunch, okay?"

"Sure. Goodnight."

Elizabeth headed to the kitchen where Jack was finishing dinner. "Hey, what did Rosie need?"

"I'm not sure but she seems upset. However, she usually makes things more dramatic than they need to be so it could be nothing."

"You could have talked to her, babe. I wouldn't have minded all that much."

"I mind. Most people aren't going to come to our house the day we get back from our honeymoon. Plus, how else are we going to have a romantic night if Rosie is here?"

"True."

"And that's what I want."

"Romance?"

"Mmhm."

"I think that can be arranged." He leaned down and kissed her, teasing her lips. "How's that?"

"Hm. I guess that'll do," she teased.

Jack took that as a challenge. Before long, they were eating their Beef Bourguignon in bed. "Is this better?"

"Much," she giggled. He took a seat on the end of the bed so he could keep her in his line of vision. He couldn't get enough of her. Seeing her, loving her, taking care of her. He had a new purpose in life, making Beth happy. "What are you thinking about?" she wondered.

"How lucky I am."

She smiled at him and took a bite. "This is amazing, Jack."

"You're amazing."

…..

The next morning…

Elizabeth got up at six and let Shrimpy out while she made her coffee and lunch for the day.

This day was going to be hard. Jack had to work from ten to ten at The Bistro which meant she wouldn't see him until about ten thirty. It also meant she would be eating dinner alone.

As she made herself a bowl of oatmeal, she felt his arms slip around her waist.

"Morning, wife."

"Morning. What are you doing up so early?"

"I missed you."

She put her spoon down and turned around. "I know what you mean. It's going to be a long day."

"I'm going to talk to Lee and the sous chefs. I'll make sure we nail down a schedule that doesn't involve twelve hour shifts everyday."

"That would be good but I understand if it happens once in a while."

Shrimp barked at the sliding door. Jack walked over and let him in. "Hey, Shrimp! Hungry?"

He barked again so Jack gave him his breakfast. Then he poured himself a cup of coffee and joined her at the counter.

They chatted as she finished her oatmeal and then she headed in to change into her scrubs.

"Ever think of working at a clinic or smaller medical practice?" he wondered as she tied her tennis shoes and slipped her FitBit on her wrist.

"Yeah. Sometimes I think that better hours would be easier but I do like working at the hospital. I feel like I have more challenging cases."

"Well, maybe better hours would work better when we have a baby. Maybe closer to home?"

"Maybe." She gave him a kiss. "Hopefully we will find out sooner rather than later."

…..

As Elizabeth worked that morning, she started feeling kinda bad for turning Rosie away the night before. She could have at least heard what was going on. As she headed to the cafeteria at lunch, she called her to apologize.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Rosie."

"Hey."

"I first want to say how sorry I am for making you leave last night. I should've taken time to listen."

"I mean, I get it. Everything has changed for you. You have a husband now and not really any room for me."

"No, Rosie. That's not true."

"Its fine, Elizabeth. I figured it out."

"Rosie…"

"I need to go. I have a meeting with a client. Talk later?"

"Sure. Rosie, I really am sorry."

"Thanks. I really gotta go."

"Okay."

After work, she called Rosie again.

"Hello?"

"Hey, do you have plans tonight?"

"Not really."

"Me either and Jack's working late. Do you want to come over? We can get Chinese takeout and talk about boys."

"You do know we are adults, right?"

"Is that a yes?"

After a long pause she said, "Sure. I want spicy Kung Pao chicken with egg drop soup please."

"You got it. See you at 6:30?"

"I'll be there."

…..

Jack wrapped up his filet mignon dish and Lee clapped him on the shoulder. "Go home, friend. You're distracted and rightfully so. Go see your lovely wife. We got this covered."

"Are you sure? I've only got an hour to go."

"Go. Say hi to Beth for me."

"Thanks, man. I owe you."

"You remember that," he teased.

"I will!" Jack called as he tore off his apron, hung it on its hook and ran out the door.

"OMW, babe. Can't wait to c u!" he texted as he got in his truck. Thank goodness for a short commute because five minutes was pushing it.

When he pulled in the driveway he saw Rosie's car. "Seriously?"

He took a few deep breaths and walked into the house. "I'm home," he called loudly to drown out the music and laughing that was going on in the other room.

"Jack?"

Elizabeth walked into the room and gave him a short peck on the lips. "You're home early."

"Yeah. I sent you a text. You have company?"

"Five minutes ago, babe, and yes. I thought you'd be gone awhile and Rosie needed me."

"I know. I just…" Jack stopped himself from saying anything selfish. He had told her the night before that she could have talked to her. That he wouldn't mind very much. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Okay. I got us General's chicken for dinner if you're hungry."

"Thanks." He gave her a kiss and walked away after saying a brief hello to Rosie.

Rosie stood and took her plate and wine glass to the kitchen. "Thanks for tonight, Beth. I really needed this."

"Remember, Rosie. Talk to him. He will want to know what your concerns are."

"I will." She gave her best friend a hug and headed home.

When Jack came out of his shower, he was surprised to find Elizabeth sitting on the bed, a plate of food in her hand. The thing that really caught his eye was she was wearing a red lace nightie and it definitely fit her well.

"I thought you might want to eat dinner with me in here."

"Okay. Rosie went home?"

"Yep. It's just you and me." He nodded and pulled on his shorts and stepped back in the bathroom.

She followed him in the bathroom and watched as he combed his hair. "Jack, how was your day?"

"Hard."

"Why is that?" She guessed it was the same reason it was hard for her.

"I just wanted to be with you. I've never felt so lost. Lee made me leave because I kept messing things up."

"So, you're saying I'm a distraction?" she flirted, stepping closer, slipping between him and the sink.

"Especially when you look like that. I can guarantee that I will be remembering this," he said, playing with the impossibly thin strap on her shoulder.

"I'm glad you like it."

He dipped his head down and kissed her, long and slow. "I missed you so much," he mumbled against her lips. "I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow."

"Let's not think about tomorrow," she told him as she led him into the bedroom. "Just think about now."

…..

Rosie called Lee when she knew he was off work. "Hey there," he said.

"Lee, I'm just outside. We need to talk."

"Okay. We can go to Stella's if you want."

"I was thinking maybe we could go to your apartment."

"Alright sure." He walked out and strolled to her car. She rolled her window down. "Rosie, are you alright?" She wiped her cheeks and looked away.

"I don't know."

He opened her door and helped her out of the car. "Tell me, sweetheart."

"I'm scared, Lee."

He gently dried a tear with his thumb. "Of what?"

"I'm not good enough, Lee. What if we get married someday and I mess things up and you end up hating me?"

"Two things, sweetheart. One, you are the only one for me, regardless of how good you think you are. Two, we both will absolutely mess things up on occasion. It's a given. But I will never ever ever hate you. I love you with all of my heart."

"But what if…" He placed his finger on her lips.

""What if's" only cause trouble. Whatever happens, we will get through it together."

"I love you, Lee."

He smiled that handsome smile of his and gave her a sweet kiss. "Let's go get some coffee and talk more."

….

A week later, Jack and Elizabeth decided to have family dinner there at their home instead of at the Thatcher's.

Jack made one pan pesto chicken, tortellini and veggies. He decided they needed a healthy lighter meal more often than not and Elizabeth agreed.

Elizabeth showed Vi, Grace, and Julie around the house, pointing out the newly painted gray guestroom/nursery.

"It's a lovely room, Beth," Grace told her.

"Thank you. I bought some sheer white curtains too that will help make it feel homey."

Vi looked around thoughtfully, but remained quiet. She was due to be married to her fiancé in a couple months. Elizabeth figured she was thinking about where they would be living.

After Grace and Julie left, Beth decided to speak with her. "You alright, Vi?"

"Sure."

"What's going on?"

"Matthew doesn't want children. I want them, Beth. I always have."

"Have you told him that?"

"Yes. It didn't make any difference."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. If I marry him, am I settling? Is it a mistake?"

"I can't answer that for you but what I can say is you deserve to be happy. You need to decide if you can be happy not having children."

"I don't think I can, Beth."

"Whatever you do, I'll support you."


	21. Healing the Heart chapter 21

Jack and Elizabeth walked the short distance into Cambridge a few days later.

As they walked down the sidewalk, Elizabeth noticed a sign on the window of Cambridge Pediatrics. "Pediatrician needed. Inquire within."

It was after business hours so she would need to come back or call the next day.

"What do you think, Jack?"

"I think you should pray on it and I'll support whatever decision you make."

She had no idea if she would be happy or bored working somewhere other than the hospital. She figured it would be a pay cut too but that wasn't too big of an issue at this point.

"I'll call tomorrow."

"Alright." They walked into Stella's and found a booth in the corner. "You want decaf?" he asked, kissing her temple.

"Yes, please."

She was quieter than normal as they sipped their coffee. "Beth, if you are happy at the hospital, stay there. Why change?"

"Because, it's closer to home. Because if and when I get pregnant it makes sense for me to be closer to you and to have shorter hours. Because I am happy but a change might be what I need."

"Do I make you happy?" he wondered. He thought he knew but he needed to make sure.

She turned toward him and touched his cheek with her fingertips. "Honey, I have never in my life been happier than when I am with you."

"Are you sure, because if there's anything you need me to do or not do…"

She silenced him with a gentle, lingering kiss. "I don't want you to change one single thing."

"Alright."

"I love you, husband. With all of my heart."

"I love you too."

….

The next day she did call and they told her to apply on their website, attaching a resume, and they would call her for an interview. So that evening after dinner, she concentrated on taking care of that while Jack did his best not to let her concentrate.

It was a little bit her fault because she chose to lay in bed to use her laptop. But why get up and get dressed when it was a perfectly comfortable where she had been for the last hour?

Her husband's lips reminded her why it would have been better to head to a different room. They were now located in the vicinity of her collarbone and making their way up behind her ear.

"Babe, can I get like ten minutes?" she asked with a shiver as goosebumps appeared.

"Can I get ten minutes?" he asked her, a gleam in his eye.

"I will give you ten if you give me ten. I really want to get this submitted."

He stopped and leaned against her shoulder, watching as she typed in the laptop. He gave her fifteen just to be nice and then he resumed his tactics.

"Two more minutes, sweetheart."

He got up and put a t-shirt on. "I want a snack. Want something?"

"Maybe a half glass of wine?"

"Sure." He left the room and she typed faster so she could get it done by the time he came back.

She hit enter to upload the resume into the application and logged off just as he walked back in.

"What took you so long?" she teased, a huge smile on her face.

"Mmhm." He handed her a glass of wine. "You got it done?"

"Yep. I'm hoping they call me tomorrow for an interview. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of being closer to home."

"They'd be crazy not to call you."

They did call the next day and Elizabeth had an interview a few days later. When Elizabeth returned home the next evening, her phone rang.

"Viola?"

"Hi, Beth."

"How are you doing?"

"I don't know. Fine, I guess."

"How are you really?"

"I love Matthew. I want to be with him, but I can't give up having children."

"Have you talked to him? Found out why he doesn't want kids?"

"Not yet."

"Vi, you need to. This isn't something you can avoid. Your wedding is coming up in two months. If you wait, it's only going to be harder."

"I know. My brain tells me that but my heart wants to marry him. I'm so confused, Beth."

"I have an idea. What if Jack and Mike took Matt out for beer and burgers or something? Maybe talk to him?"

"Do you think they would?"

"Yeah. They are going to be related if all goes well. Maybe they can help him voice his concerns."

……

The next weekend, the guys went out to a pub while the Thatcher sisters spent time together at the spa where they treated themselves to manicures and pedicures and then dinner at the Italian restaurant nearby.

Jack carefully tossed his dart toward the board. "So close, bro," Mike told him as he stepped forward. "But unfortunately, close isn't always enough."

Mike was pretty sure of himself and rightly so. Two of his three darts hit the bull's eye.

Matthew stood and prepared to take his turn. His heart just wasn't in it. He could feel Vi slipping away from him and he couldn't do anything about it. His first dart missed the board completely. The second one hit the outer rim and bounced off. The third made it about halfway to the center.

"Matt, you okay, bro?" Jack asked.

"Sure." He sat down at their table and took a long swig of his beer.

"What's going on?"

"You and Beth gonna have kids?"

"Yeah. It's our dream. At least two."

"I can't do that, Jack. I can't be a good enough father."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm…its not something I should risk."

Mike looked at Jack and then at Matthew. "What's going on, Matt?"

"I think Vi wants kids. I told her I don't."

"Did you tell her why?"

"No."

"My dad left when I was eight," Mike told them. "I didn't understand. I thought it was my fault. Maybe if I had been a better kid, he would have stayed. If I had obeyed him more, he would have wanted to be with me."

"That's alot of pressure on a kid. You know it wasn't you, right, Mike?" Jack asked.

"Now I do. I know that I could never do that to Julie or Si. I'm not my father. Just like you are not your father, Matthew."

"Its not the same."

"Maybe not, but you are a good man."

"My father beat us. My mother watched it happen and never did anything about it. Things like anger and abuse get passed down from one generation to the next."

"Matt," Mike told him, putting his hand on his arm. "You always have a choice in what you do with it."

"What if I lose my temper and….I…no, I can't risk it."

"Ever lost your temper, Jack?" Mike asked.

"Sure. Everyone does."

"What if you lost your temper with Beth?"

"I'd probably leave the house until I felt better."

"You and Vi ever argue, Matt?"

"Yes."

"Did you hit her?"

"Of course not!"

"Why?"

"I could never hurt…."

"Right, and a child is small and defenseless. You would never hurt one."

"I need to talk to Vi."

….

When the guys came back to Jack and Beth's house, the girls were laughing and eating dessert in the living room.

"Hey ladies," Jack greeted. He walked over and kissed Elizabeth and then sat next to her. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah. It was great."

They watched as Matthew and Vi stepped out onto the deck. "Don't worry, Beth. It's going to work out," Jack told her.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Out on the deck…

Matthew approached Vi who had walked up to the railing of the deck. "Sweetheart?"

"Matt, we need to talk."

"That's why I brought you out here."

"I want babies, Matt. If you aren't okay with that, I can't marry you. I don't think it's fair for you to ask me to give up on that."

He turned her gently and smiled. "Honey, I need to tell you about my childhood."

"You have never told me before. Why now?"

"Because it's important. I should have shared it with you before."

"Yes. You should have. Matt, if we are going to be married, we need to tell each other everything. Including why you don't want to have children."

He took her hand and led her to the lounge chair and they sat. "It started when I was about five. I remember it like it was yesterday. My brother Marty was about eight and he and I had climbed a tree. Marty slipped, fell, and broke his arm. My dad blamed me and that was the first time I was introduced to the sting of my dad's belt."

"He hit you."

"All the time. Everything was apparently my fault."

"You were five, babe. Five."

"It didn't matter."

"What did your mom do?"

"Nothing."

"Matthew, I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"I'm afraid, Vi. What if somehow my Dad's anger and abuse was passed down to me? I couldn't live with myself if I did anything…." His voice cracked as tears filled his eyes.

"Honey, you are a kind, gentle man. I am not afraid of you and I know you would never hurt me or our child."

"I love you, Vi."

She touched his cheek gently and smiled. "I love you too, so much but I need to know if this is alright with you. Are you willing to have children?"

….

Jack snuggled with Beth on the couch. He told her Matthew's story and she couldn't believe it.

"How could parents do that? Her not stopping him is as bad as him doing it in the first place."

"It happens more than we know, I'm sure."

"You think they will still get married?"

"I'm not sure but they are having a good talk right now. One that should have happened a long time ago." Jack gently touched her chin, turning her face towards him. "Beth, babe, I need you to know I would never do that. I would never hurt you or our babies."

"I know that." She kissed him softly. "I trust you." She smiled and kissed him again. "We are in this marriage together. Our babies are going to be loved beyond measure and if you or I ever feel overwhelmed and need a breather, we need to make a promise to each other that we will allow for that."

"I promise, Beth."

"I promise too."

…..

On the deck…

"Open, honest communication about everything," Vi said. "We have to or this won't work."

He nodded and gathered her in his arms. "I promise."

"So, our wedding…."

"Its coming up fast."

"It is. And we will wait a year before trying for a baby."

"Yes. It will give us a strong foundation."

"Okay." She leaned into him and took a deep breath, breathing in his aftershave that she loved. "How long has it been since you've seen them, Matt?"

"Fifteen years. I moved out at eighteen and haven't seen them since."

"What about Marty?"

"I don't even know where he is."

"You could try to find him. Maybe he would come to the wedding. It would be good to have your family there."

He kissed her forehead and then her lips. "The only family I need there is you and yours."

Vi still wondered if she could find him for Matt. What if there was a Martin Steele on social media and all she needed to do was search?


	22. Chapter 22

A week later….

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Elizabeth Thornton?"

"Yes, this is Elizabeth."

"Hello. This is Mark Hammond at Cambridge Pediatrics. How are you today?"

"Great. How are you?"

"Just fine. I am calling to offer you the position that you applied and interviewed for."

"Oh, wow! That's great. Thank you so much."

"We would like for you to start in about two weeks. Is that doable for you?"

"Well, I'd like to talk to my husband about it. Can I give you a call tomorrow?"

"Sure. That would be fine."

"Thank you so much."

"You are very welcome. We are excited to have you on our team, Dr. Thornton."

She drove straight to The Bistro after work and waved at Clara. "Hey, Doc."

"Hey, would you let Jack know that I'm here? I need to talk if he has time."

"Sure thing. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, actually."

She led her over to a small table. "Have a seat. Chef's special is Veggie Lasagna tonight."

"I'm game." Anything Jack cooked was delicious.

"Great. I'll let him know you are here."

A few moments later, Clara took her to the office to wait for him. She sat down at the desk and smiled at the picture he kept on the desk of them in the gondola in Venice. You couldn't beat the joy that was on their faces.

"Hey, sweetie," he told her, walking in and closing the door.

"Hi. Sorry to bother you at work but I have news."

He sat on the desk and pulled her between his knees to hug her. "You are never a bother, Beth."

She hugged him back and just enjoyed being held for a moment. "I got the job."

He leaned back and smiled. "I knew you would."

"I'm trying to decide if I should take it. I mean, what if I take it and then I find out I'm pregnant? Then I leave them in a year when the baby is born."

"Well, true. It's up to you."

"I want to know what you think though."

"I think that you are a talented pediatrician. You are an asset wherever you work. Any child will be lucky to be healed by you."

"That doesn't help," she said with a laugh.

"Are you happy at the hospital?"

"Yeah. I am happy."

"Then you know what they say, Beth."

"What do they say?"

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

She sighed and settled back into his arms. "I love you, Jack. Thank you for supporting me in this."

"You're welcome. I love you back."

"Alright, so I'll stay at the hospital then."

She called Dr. Hammond at the clinic the next day and let him know she would be staying where she was for the moment. But then Dr. Hammond told her that he was willing to work with whatever schedule she might need.

"Even if I need to work part time?"

"Yes. Part time is fine."

"Within the next year I might need to go on leave for a while, maybe three months or so. Would I still be able to work for you when I return from leave?"

"Of course. Maternity leave is twelve weeks."

She smiled. "Alright then, I will take the job."

"Great. Will you be able to start in two weeks?"

"I will give my notice today. Thank you so much, Dr. Hammond."

"Call me Mark."

"Alright. Thank you, Mark. I look forward to working with you."

Elizabeth squealed and texted Jack. "Hey, babe. Call me when you get this?"

He called her a few hours later while she was at lunch. "Hi."

"Hey! Guess what?"

"You took the job?"

"How did you know?"

"I used my powers of deduction. I knew you weren't pregnant yet so it couldn't be that and I hope that you wouldn't tell me over the phone."

"You are right. I would definitely find a more interesting way to tell you that I'm pregnant."

"So, what changed your mind about the job?"

"He told me that maternity leave is twelve weeks and that my job would be waiting after that and that part time is just fine. It's perfect, Jack. It's close to home too."

"Alright. I'm happy for you. And this weekend we should celebrate."

"Ooo. That sounds romantic."

"Date night in, so absolutely."

"I look forward to it."

…..

Viola's apartment….

She logged on to Facebook and searched for Martin Steele. There were a lot and she didn't know how to weed them out, except three of them were black so they were a no.

She knew that Matthew had grown up in Tallahassee, Florida so she clicked on each one to see where they were originally from.

After an hour of searching, she finally found a Marty Steele from Palm Beach. According to his birthdate, he was three years older than Matthew and that fit. She took a deep breath and scrolled through pictures, trying to see if he had posted anything that had Matthew in it from way back when they were kids. She gasped when she found one of two little boys that had the caption, "Where are you, Matty? I miss you."

She clicked on the messenger icon and sent him a message. "Hi, my name is Viola Thatcher. I live in Boston and I'm engaged to Matthew Steele. He mentioned he had a brother named Marty and he would be your age. He grew up in Tallahassee and his mom is Theresa and his dad is Frank. If this is rings any bells and you would like to contact me, please send me a message."

She knew that she and Matt had just agreed to be open and honest with each other about everything but she was choosing not to disclose that she was searching for Marty yet because he may not even want to get in touch. She wanted to protect Matt from the hurt of losing a brother all over again. And, if he did want to get in touch, it would be a great thing. She hoped Matt would see it that way.

Her computer dinged and her heart sped up. "Oh my goodness." She read the message.

"I can't believe that you are engaged to Matty. How is he? I have wondered for years if I would ever find him."

"He's doing well. He still struggles with how you and he were treated by your parents but he's good."

"I wish things had been different. Now that Dad is gone, Mom is an entirely different person."

"Gone? Did he pass away?"

"Yes. About five years ago. Mom is married again to a great guy. He has grown children and they are all very close."

"So you keep in touch with her?"

"Yes. She called me when Dad passed so that I could make it to the funeral. I had no idea how to contact Matty so I couldn't let him know."

"I'm not entirely sure he would have gone if you had."

"Yeah. I know but maybe it would have given him closure like it did me."

She didn't know how to respond to that. She heard another ding. "Do you think Matty would talk to me if I called him?"

"I do. He doesn't have anything against you."

She gave him Matt's phone number. "Let me call him first. I will message you when I'm finished."

"He doesn't know, does he?"

"No. I didn't want to get his hopes up."

"Okay, I will wait for your call."

Viola pushed the button next to Matt's name and sighed. Now or never.

"Hi, sweetheart," he answered. "This is a surprise."

"Do you have a few moments to talk?"

"Sure. I'm on lunch. Let me just move to a quieter room." After a moment he spoke again. "Okay, what's going on?"

"I have something to tell you and I think that it might make you angry. I hope you will hear me out before you do though."

"I can't remember being angry with you before, Vi. It would have to be something big."

"Our conversation a week ago at Jack and Beth's."

"Yeah?"

"We promised to be open and honest, no matter what."

"Yes, true."

"Well, I decided to look for Marty."

Silence filled the line and Vi wondered if they had been disconnected.

"Honey?"

"Did you find him?" That wasn't what she expected.

"Yes. He lives in Palm Beach." She heard sniffing on the line and she wished she was there holding his hand. "Babe, I'm sorry. I wanted you to have family so badly and I didn't want to tell you unless I found him. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive, except for the not telling me first part. I am relieved. I'm glad he is alright."

"He wants to talk to you. I gave him your number so he will be calling."

"Alright. Did he say anything about our parents?"

"Yeah, but I will let him tell you."

"Vi, after work, can we talk? I have a feeling there will be a lot on my mind."

"Of course. Come over and I will cook you dinner."

"Love you, sweetheart."

"Love you too."

…..

That night, Jack beat Beth home by about thirty minutes so he took a shower and got started on dinner. He took the salmon out of the refrigerator and started making the lemon basil sauce to put over it.

When she walked in dinner was almost finished. "What smells so good?" she asked, walking over and giving him a kiss.

"Lemon Basil baked salmon and roasted parmesan green beans."

"Yum. That sounds great."

"Should be ready in about ten."

"Great. I will go shower and be right down."

While she was gone, he set the table, plated the food, turned down the lights, lit a few candles, and turned on some soft music.

"Well, this looks pretty romantic, Mr. Thornton," she told him as she watched from the doorway.

"That was the plan, Mrs. Thornton."

"So are we celebrating tonight?"

"I'm celebrating my beautiful, smart, amazing wife tonight."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhm. She never ceases to surprise me every single day and I am a very blessed man."

"And a sweet one too." She gave him a long, slow kiss. "And just so you know, I am the blessed one."

He took her hand and pulled her into his arms, swaying to the music playing. "So, I was thinking of inviting both our families to our house for Christmas," he told her. "What do you think?"

"We could but I was looking forward to going to Seattle again."

"I just think that since we were there last Christmas, you might want to spend it here where your family is and I'd like to make our own traditions since it is our first Christmas in our own home."

"Do you think your parents will fly here?"

"Are you kidding? They would love it."

"Alright. Let's do it then."

"Great."

"We can put the tree over there," he pointed to the corner by the window in the living room.

"Yeah and the stockings on the mantle?"

"Yep and mistletoe in every doorway." She laughed and kissed his cheek.

"This ought to be an interesting Christmas."

"What do you want for Christmas, Beth?"

"You. That's all I need."

"Come on, give me an idea."

"If you're making me pick something, I think both of our families should serve the homeless dinner at The Bistro."

"Thanksgiving and Christmas? Alright, we can do that. Let's spread the word."

"Great. So no presents, just serving others. That should be our tradition."

"Perfect."


	23. Chapter 23

Mid November, a month later

Matthew heard a knock at his door. He looked nervously toward Vi who was next to him.

"Get it, honey. This is what you've been waiting for."

He nodded, took a deep breath and walked over to open the door. "Marty?"

"Matty." Marty walked in and gave his little brother a big hug. "You look great, bud."

"You do too," Matt told him, trying to hold his tears in check. "Where's your wife and son?"

A beautiful young woman with almond shaped eyes carrying a small boy walked up to the door. "Here they are. Matty, this is Kira and our son, Jaden. Kira, my brother, Matthew."

She gave him a quick one armed hug and smiled. "Its so nice to meet you, Matthew, finally."

"You too. Vi?" He reached out his hand and smiled. "Vi, this is Marty and his family."

After a few more hugs, they all went into the dining room and sat down. Vi went to take the roast from the stovetop where it had been resting. As she sliced it, Kira walked in.

"Can I help you?" she asked sweetly.

"Um, sure. Would you like to put those rolls in a bowl? There is one right on the counter."

"I thought maybe we could give them a few moments alone," Kira mentioned as she washed her hands. "Marty has been looking for his little brother for so long. He couldn't wait to get here."

"I'm glad you all came. And that you're staying for Thanksgiving and the wedding."

"Me too."

….

Matt watched his big brother snuggle his two year old son naturally. "You ever get scared, Marty? That you'll be just like Dad?" he asked quietly.

"No. I'm not like him. Neither are you from what I gather. Dad had a drinking problem, Matty."

"What?"

"He beat us when he was drunk. That's what ultimately killed him."

He was dumbfounded. "I never knew that. Why didn't Mom stop him or get us out of there? How could she let him do that?"

"I think you need to ask her that. She had her reasons at the time. Now she has regrets but she's happy again."

"I don't want to talk to her."

"Its not good to hold grudges, Matty. It eats away at your happiness."

…..

Elizabeth smiled at the five year old black haired boy on the examination table. He had a frown on his face and his arms were crossed, refusing to let her examine him at all.

"Now, Gavin, you need to let Dr. Thornton look in your ears," his mom told him.

"No! Its gunna hurt, Mommy."

"I promise it won't hurt, Gavin. Watch. I'll look in your mom's ears first," Elizabeth told him as he watched.

Elizabeth rolled herself over to his mom and gently put her otoscope into his mom's ear and looked through it. Then she checked the other ear too. "Looks pretty healthy, Mom," she teased.

"It didn't hurt at all, Gav. Nice and gentle."

Elizabeth grabbed a lollipop from a box in the cupboard and put it in her pocket. His eyes lit up. "Is that for me?"

"That depends. I need to look in your ears and your mouth. Then, I'll leave it up to Mom if you get to have the lollipop."

"I'll be good," he told her, a solemn expression on his face.

Ten minutes later, Gavin and his mom left the exam room with an antibiotics prescription and a lollipop in hand.

She entered his information and diagnosis into her small laptop and yawned for the twentieth time that afternoon. She was no stranger to being tired. Working twelve hour shifts, some overnight took its toll. But that was in the past. What she couldn't figure out was why was she more tired now that she worked nine to six at a much slower pace? It made no sense.

"Doc?" the receptionist said as she walked out for her next patient.

"Yes, Hazel?"

"There are no more scheduled patients until one if you'd like to take a lunch."

"Oh, great. I'm going to go rest for a bit."

Another yawn.

"You feeling okay?" Hazel wondered.

"Yeah. Just tired."

"Alright. I'll come wake you at one."

"Thanks," she waved as she walked to her office and laid down on the loveseat in the corner. She was asleep within two minutes.

….

"I don't think I can forgive her, Vi. She let him beat us. How can a mother do that?"

Vi took his hand and held it. "What if he had somehow convinced her that it was for your own good? To discipline you like that. Or maybe he threatened to hit her too?"

"That's not a good reason, Vi."

"Of course it's not but we can't change whatever happened."

He knew that but he wished none of it had happened. He wished his family was normal and happy.

Jaden wandered into the room and stood in front of them. He put his little chubby toddler hand on Matt's knee and gave him a dimply smile.

"Hi, buddy." He was adorable. Matt reached down and picked him up, putting him on his lap. Jaden reached up and patted his cheek.

"You're going to be a good dad, babe," Vi told him.

"I hope so. I don't want to ever make my kids afraid of me."

Jaden laid his head against Matt's chest and yawned. Matt started gently using his fingers to stroke Jaden's soft black hair until he fell asleep. His soft snore made both adults smile. Vi gave Matt a gentle kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Vi thought about how close their wedding was. Eighteen days. The week after Thanksgiving. It was coming fast but she couldn't wait. Seeing Matt so tender and kind with his nephew made her love him even more.

….

Elizabeth drove home after work to an empty house. Jack would be home by eight so she could relax in a bubble bath for awhile.

She grabbed her flannel pajama pants and one of his comfy t-shirts and headed in to the bathroom. She started the water and added bubble bath to it but she needed a elastic tie for her hair. She pulled open a drawer and then froze. She picked up the pregnancy test box and smiled.

Then it dawned on her. She had been super tired the last couple weeks and her jeans were a bit tight and her breasts were tender. She had chalked it up to starting a new job and the joys of being newlyweds. She had no nausea but as she thought back, she hadn't had a period in…at least…whoa…eight weeks?

She picked up her phone and counted back on the calendar. Yeah. Eight weeks. They had been married almost ten. Wow.

She put the test on the vanity and climbed into the warm sudsy water. She couldn't wait to take the test. But for now, she braced her feet against the tub and closed her eyes.

In what seemed like a moment later, Elizabeth heard the bathroom door open.

"Beth, honey?"

She opened her eyes and smiled up at Jack. "Hi."

"Did you fall asleep?" She nodded.

"Yeah." She stood and got out, holding onto his shoulder for balance, and then wrapped a towel around herself.

"You've been tired a lot lately. You feeling okay?" He gathered her in his arms and kissed her forehead.

"Yeah. But I think I should take a pregnancy test."

He stopped rubbing her back and leaned back a little. "Yeah?"

"Mmhm. As you said, I've been tired a lot and I haven't had a period since two weeks after we got married and my jeans are getting tight and my breasts are kinda sore. All signs point to baby so…"

He saw the test and picked it up. "So what are you waiting for?"

……

Ten minutes later….

Elizabeth sat in her cozy pajamas next to Jack on the bed, waiting for thirty more seconds to be over. They watched the timer on his phone fly by.

"I'm so nervous," she admitted. "I didn't think I would be, but I am." The timer dinged and they looked at each other. "You look, Jack."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Two pink lines is positive, right?"

"Right."

She watched him walk into the bathroom and pulled her knees up to her chest, leaning her forehead against them. "Please help us to be okay with whatever the outcome," she prayed.

"Beth?" Jack said from right next to her.

She kept her head on her knees. "Yeah?"

"I hope you're ready, sweetheart, because its positive."

Her head came up and she smiled. "It is?"

"Yup." He showed her the test and she squealed and wrapped her arms around him.

"That's great! It's better than great! Its amazing! What's better than amazing?" she asked getting off the bed.

"Perfect," he told her. "Its absolutely one thousand percent perfect."

"Let's celebrate."

"You got it. I'll make you anything. What sounds good?"

"Mmm, how about meatloaf and mashed potatoes?"

He smiled and stepped close, cupping her face in his hands. "Congratulations, Beth."

She put her hands on his hips and stood on her toes, pressing her lips to his.

"You too."

….

Elizabeth called her gynecologist the next day and set up an appointment for their first checkup and ultrasound. It was about a week away. Just before Thanksgiving.

"Its Tuesday the 24th, Jack."

"Alright. What time?"

"10am."

"I'll be there. I'll tell Lee I'm coming in a few hours late."

"Great. I love you. I gotta go, my next patient is here."

"Love you too, Beth."

As the week progressed, she continued feeling fatigued daily, so at lunch, she napped in her office. In between patients she snacked on some crackers and cheese or anything else she brought.

The day of her ultrasound, she woke up nauseated and immediately dashed to the bathroom where she stayed for an hour.

Jack checked on her multiple times as she alternated between vomiting and laying on the floor. She assured him she was fine.

"We need to leave in a hour. Do you want me to help you up?"

"Yeah. I need to take a shower."

…..

Vi took her soon-to-be sister-in-law shopping, wanting to get to know her better, leaving Jaden with the men.

"Are you and Matt planning on children?"

Kira asked as they combed through racks of clothes for deals.

"Yeah. We are going to wait a year but yes. At least one."

"He is really good with Jaden. He will be a good father, just like Marty."

"That's what I told him."

"Are you excited about the wedding?"

"Yes. It feels like it took forever to get here."

"I remember that feeling."

"Where did you and Marty meet, Kira?"

"At an office party. We both worked at the same furniture store in the city. He was in sales and I was in marketing. We never met until the office party about five years ago. As soon as I saw him, I knew. He was just so handsome and worked hard. I watched him that night, how he kept to himself. It made me want to know the shy, handsome guy. So I went up and shook his hand. I'm not shy at all so I went for it."

"And the rest is history?"

"Pretty much. What about you and Matt?"

"He is a deputy at the police department in Boston. I was stopped at a traffic light when I witnessed an accident in front of me. So I pulled over and he was the one who questioned me about what I had seen. There was something about his brown eyes that drew me in. I could see he had a story to tell and I wanted to know what it was."

"It might not be my place but Marty says Matt is struggling with forgiving their mother."

"Yes, he is."

"I probably shouldn't have done it, but I gave her Matt's phone number."

"Wow. Well, at least he can choose not to answer it. I'm glad you didn't invite her here. That would be a whole different story."

"I didn't but she knows where we are. She wants to reconnect."

…..

Jack held Elizabeth's hand as the tech performed the ultrasound. She wasn't saying much and that worried both of

them.

He kissed her hand and smiled bravely, preparing for the worst while praying and hoping for good news.

"Alright folks." She turned the monitor more towards them but to Jack it looked like a fuzzy TV channel. "This here is your baby. The fetus is a good size for its gestational age and this little flicker is the heart beat."

"Oh, Jack! Do you see it? That's our baby, honey."

His eyes spilled over as he stood to kiss her. "I see it, Beth. Its beautiful."

"Also," the tech continued with a huge smile. "This is your other baby."

"I'm sorry, what?" they said in unison.

"Twins. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton, you're having twins."


	24. Chapter 24

When they returned home from the doctor, Elizabeth led Jack straight to the porch swing.

"Babe, it's kinda cold to swing."

"Will you get us a blanket and I'll make the tea?"

He smiled. "We could just build a fire inside."

"I want to rock our babies, Jack."

He gave her a kiss and hugged her. "Then that's what you should do."

Ten minutes later, they were under two blankets on the swing and had two steaming mugs of tea.

She rubbed her small bump and smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Twins. I can't believe it. You think we will need a bigger house?"

"Maybe someday. Right now we'll be fine. Besides, we could always add on if we love the neighborhood."

"How did we end up with twins? It's not like its in our families."

"We're just lucky I guess."

"Lucky? I'll tell you how lucky I feel once I've delivered both of them." Despite her teasing words, she knew that the second she met her babies, she'd feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

…..

Thanksgiving Day

Beth tried on her third outfit. They wanted to keep the twin/pregnancy announcement quiet for another month until Christmas, but it felt like her belly grew everyday and it was harder to hide.

Then she found a navy patterned wrap dress that worked. The pattern might trick the eye. "Babe, I don't know if I'm going to be able to hide this much longer."

"So we try. If someone asks, we tell. I mean you are almost twelve weeks so it wouldn't hurt to tell if we needed to." He walked up behind her and smiled. "You look beautiful, by the way."

She smiled back at him in the mirror. "Thank you."

"Ready?"

She took his hand and nodded. "Let's go."

The evening was full of gratefulness and love. Jack, Beth, Tom, Katie, Rosie, Lee, Grace, William, Julie, Mike, Vi and Matt all helped serve food at The Bistro. For the most part, the homeless ones that came stood in line at the buffet tables that were set up while everyone scooped turkey, dressing, salad, beans, cranberries, and pumpkin pie onto their plates.

Jack watched Beth as she welcomed each person with her lovely smile, making sure they knew about coming at Christmas too. His eyes followed her curves down to her "hidden" baby bump. Everything about her that he loved and respected poured from her now, including the nurturing side that their babies were benefiting from. They were very fortunate to have her as their Mama.

Grace watched as he found his way over and wrapped his arms around her, his hand settling for a brief moment on her stomach. Then Grace noticed the bump.

"Do you see what I see?" Julie asked, nudging Grace's shoulder.

"Yeah. I see."

"Wonder why they haven't said anything?"

"Maybe its early. Maybe they want to wait until Christmas."

"Yeah. Whatever the reason, I'm happy for them."

"Happy for whom?" Vi asked walking over.

Julie nodded toward the newlyweds. "Our dear sister."

"What about her?" Vi looked closer. "Oh wow."

"Yeah."

Jack whispered in her ear, "What if we had a nice warm bubble bath when we got home?"

"Mm. With candles and music?"

"Absolutely."

"Sounds perfect."

….

Jack nuzzled her cheek, his lips finding the silky skin on her neck. He knew she was completely relaxed, her eyes closed, her hands floating in the now lukewarm water.

"Babe?" he whispered.

"Hm."

"The water is getting cold. We should get out."

In response, she flicked the drain with her toe, letting cooler water drain out and then shut it again. Then with her left foot, she turned the hot water on. "How's that?"

"Good."

She took his hands and wrapped them tighter around her. "Hold me, Jack." She felt warm and safe in his arms and that was heaven to her.

"Thank you for helping tonight," he said softly.

"Your support means everything."

"I will always support you, hon."

"And I will always support you."

She shut off the hot water and sighed as she drifted off again.

The next day The Bistro was closed and Beth had the day off work so they stayed snuggled in bed for longer than usual and then they made breakfast together.

Well, she hung out at the counter while he made a spinach and Pepper Jack omelet at her request since she was craving spicy things.

They both turned as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," she said, heading to the door. "Mom?"

"I left your father," she told her, wheeling a large suitcase behind herself as she walked in the door.

"You what?"

"I left your father."

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"Do you have any coffee?"

Grace left her coffee by the door and headed toward the kitchen.

"Grace?" Jack said as she walked in.

"Hi, Jack."

Beth shrugged when he looked at her, questioning. "Mom, what do you mean you left Dad?"

"Just what I said. Its over."

"You've been married over thirty years. Surely whatever it is can be mended."

"Not everything can be, dear. Now would it be okay if I stayed in your guest room for a bit?"

Beth looked at Jack and he looked back at Beth. "Of course, Grace. As long as you need."

"Thank you, Jack."

They watched Grace take her cup of coffee and suitcase into the guest room and close the door.

"They seemed fine yesterday. What could have happened?" Beth whispered.

"I don't know, babe, but it's not really our business."

"It's my parents. Of course it is."

"But we wouldn't want them meddling in our marriage just because you're their daughter."

"It's not the same." She took the omelet from him and took a bite. "So good but it needs something. Do we have syrup?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Syrup on eggs?"

"Yeah. It sounds great." She looked in the refrigerator and smiled. "Mm. Maple, my favorite." She poured a generous amount on her eggs and took another bite. "That's better."

In the guest room, Grace ignored her ringing phone and put her clothes away in the dresser. As her phone stopped ringing and then started again, she just shut it off and headed back out to the kitchen.

Unfortunately what she found was Jack and Beth quite involved in smooching. "Don't mind me. I'm just heading to the living room."

"I'll come with you," Beth said, kissing Jack again before following with her plate.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Grace said, shaking her head.

"Leaving Dad?"

"No, staying with newlyweds. This is not what either of us needs. I'm going to call Julie."

"Mom, its fine. You're not staying forever. Just until you and Dad make up."

"That's not happening, dear."

"Of course it will. This is Dad. You two love each other."

"This isn't about love. This is about him doing something…." She sighed. "Never mind. I'm going to go lay down. I didn't sleep much last night." Beth picked up her phone and Grace turned around. "Oh, and don't call your father, Beth."

Beth put her phone back down and took her plate into the kitchen. "I don't know how she does that."

"Does what?"

"Knows what I'm going to do before I do it."

"My mom always says that she has eyes in the back of her head. Tom checked one time and came and told me that he didn't believe her because they weren't there. My guess is, you'll be the same way with the twins."

Her phone rang in the living room. She walked over and answered it. "Hi, Dad."

"Hi, Bethie. Is your mom there?"

"Yep."

"May I speak with her please?"

"I'm not sure she will be okay with that."

"She is the most stubborn woman I have ever met!"

"What happened, Dad?"

"I don't know."

"I find that hard to believe. She left you. There had to be something that happened."

"Not something you need to worry about, Bethie. Can you ask your mom to call me? I think she turned her phone off."

"I'll ask her."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Later that day, Beth needed to go grocery shopping so she asked her mom to go with her.

"Mom, I spoke with Dad this morning."

"Beth, I asked you not to do that. I wish I could still ground you for not listening."

"I didn't call him. He called me because you turned your phone off. He wants you to call him."

"Well, he is going to just have to wait. I'm not ready to talk to him yet."

"The rehearsal dinner is Friday night. Are you going to be talking by then?"

"Probably not."

"Don't you think that maybe the both of you should put your stubbornness aside so that Vi's wedding goes smoothly?"

"I'm not the stubborn one. Your father is."

"Whatever you say."

"Let's talk about something else. You look like you aren't feeling well."

"I feel pretty good."

"I guess we are both keeping secrets, hm?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your sisters and I noticed that you are maybe putting on some weight."

"Gee, thanks, Mom." So she knew. Beth could admit it or just play it off like she was just gaining weight. Grace lifted her eyebrows at her. "So, yes. I am gaining a bit of weight. I'm pretty sure that's a common thing after you get married."

"It is, yes. But you've always been thin. I'm thinking that maybe it's not just the joys of being married."

"So what are you asking, Mom?"

"I'm not trying to pry, sweetheart, and if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

After a moment of thought, she blurted, "We were going to announce it at Christmas, but it's getting harder to hide it."

"So it's true?"

"Yes, it's true. I'm pregnant. Due the first week of June." She would still surprise everyone else and leak the twin part at Christmas.

"That's wonderful, Beth. Are you happy?"

"Yes. That's what we wanted, Mom."

"Then I'm happy for you."

"Thank you. Now you can tell me your secret."

"It started with him forgetting our wedding anniversary."

"Okay."

"He has never forgotten before. Not once. Then, he decided that he was going to go on a trip, without me."

"Where did he go?"

"He went to Maine. On a road trip and if that wasn't bad enough, he bought a motorcycle without discussing it with me first."

"Okay. What did he say was his reason for doing all this?"

"He said the trip was because he needed to get away and he didn't have an excuse for the motorcycle or forgetting our anniversary."

"I can't picture Dad on a motorcycle."

"He knows I hate them. I never wanted him to buy one our entire marriage, but now he forgets our anniversary, buys a motorcycle and goes on a trip to Maine without me!"

"So you left."

"Yes. What would you have done?"

"I would have confronted him about it and then maybe asked him to return the motorcycle."

"Oh, I did. He refused. And the straw that broke the camel's back was him telling me that he was going to learn how to skydive. Skydive, of all things!"

"Sounds like a midlife crisis of some sort. Maybe he's feeling old and wants to make up for that."

"Well, that's all well and good but I'd like to be included. Thirty one years for heaven's sake. Does that not mean anything?"

"I'm sorry, Mom. You'll need to ask him that question."

"I did. He didn't have an answer."


	25. Chapter 25

Grace didn't talk to William before the rehearsal dinner on Friday. She kept her phone off and stubbornly refused to call him. So when Grace walked into the dinner with Beth and Jack, he immediately headed over to her.

"Gracie."

"Will, I'm not doing this here. It's Vi's night."

"You haven't called me. What's going on?"

She looked him in the eyes and said, "Not tonight."

"So when?"

"I don't know."

She walked toward Vi and Matt, extending her arms to hug them. He watched as she pretended like nothing was going on.

He felt a hand slip into his elbow. "Hey, Bethie."

"Dad. How are you?"

She was concerned and rightly so. After thirty one years of seeing her parents married, she never would have expected what was happening.

"I don't know. She won't talk to me."

"I know. Maybe she just needs time." Beth kissed his cheek and walked away toward Jack who was talking with the soon-to-be married couple.

The dinner went by without a hitch until an unexpected visitor showed up. Theresa, Matt and Marty's mom walked into the room.

Marty immediately went over to greet her but Matt stayed behind with Vi, watching. "You okay?" Vi whispered.

"Why is she here?"

"She's your mother."

"Did you do this?" he asked her, fire in his eyes.

"No, sweetheart. I have never spoken with your mother." She kissed his cheek and smiled.

"Don't you think it's a good time to make up?"

"No. I really don't."

"She's family."

"No, she's not. We haven't been family for fifteen years."

Marty walked her over and Matt walked away.

Vi stepped forward and greeted her. "Hi. I'm Vi, Matt's fiancé."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vi." She stepped forward and hugged her.

Jack headed outside to find Matt. He saw him walk away and he looked very angry.

"Matt."

"Jack, please. I need time."

"I get that but as your friend and soon to be family member, I think maybe you need someone to vent to."

"I can't believe she came here! After fifteen years of nothing, why now? This is supposed to be a good night. We are getting married tomorrow!"

"You'll have to ask her that question, friend. But you have the control. You can either accept that she is here and be the bigger person or ask her to leave. Just remember that she traveled from Florida to see you and Matt. She is making an effort." Jack patted his shoulder and walked back inside.

About ten minutes later, Matt walked back inside. He looked around to find her. She was sitting at the table with Vi, Marty and Kira.

She looked up and met his eyes, seeing the unmistakable hurt there. "Matt."

"Theresa, can you please leave? I can't do this tonight."

"Matty, please."

"Don't call me that."

"Matthew, I am still your mother. I need you to listen to me."

"No! Just go."

She nodded and stood up, putting on her coat. She kissed Marty's cheek and hugged Kira and Vi and then walked out the door.

Vi stood and walked over to him. "Don't do this, sweetheart. Don't let her walk out of our lives. She deserves a second chance."

"Vi."

"No, please, Matt."

He took a deep breath and ran for the door.

"Mom!" he yelled, running to her as she got in her car.

She stopped and got out. "Matty…I mean, Matthew. I'm sorry."

"Vi told me to give you a chance. Marty told me. Jack told me. So I'm doing it."

"I appreciate that." She gestured to the car. "Can we maybe sit in the car? It's freezing out here."

"Okay."

Her car hadn't cooled down too much so the heat worked almost immediately. "Look, Matthew, I don't have an excuse for what I did. All I can say is I was scared and broken. It killed me to watch him hurt you. He used to say that if I tried to take you boys away from him, that I would lose. He would have control of you forever. And I somehow thought that by staying, I was protecting you." She wiped her eyes and paused to compose herself. "Matt, I can see now after getting help myself just how wrong I was. I couldn't trust anyone. I didn't know who to turn to. Who wouldn't just sell me out to him and cause more hurt."

"It's hard to imagine more hurt," he told her, fighting his own emotions. "I felt alone, Mom. Completely alone. Everything was my fault, even things Marty did. I couldn't wait until I turned eighteen so I didn't have to deal with it anymore."

"Matthew, I'm so sorry. I've missed you every single day since you left."

His eyes overflowed. "I don't know how to get past this, Mom."

"Forgive me. Please, Matthew."

He honestly had no earthly idea how to do that. After so many years of hurt and anger, how would he just forget?

"Will you come to my wedding tomorrow?"

"I wouldn't miss it."

What happened next could only be described in his mind and heart as divine intervention. He was immediately transported to a time that never actually existed where he cuddled up into her arms and she kept him safe. She would tell him that she loved him and he would never be afraid. Even though he wasn't a little boy anymore, he knew that he needed his mother.

He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Mama."

"Oh, baby. I love you too."

…..

William walked over to Grace who was near the exit. "Gracie."

"Don't, Will. You know what happens when you say my name like that."

He gently touched her hand and it almost did her in. As mad as she was at him, his touch made her forget all that. "Gracie, I miss you. I'm so sorry."

"For what?" she challenged, crossing her arms.

"Is this whole thing about the motorcycle?"

"No."

"Then what? What did I do that is so wrong?"

She sighed and pulled him into the other room. "Do you want me to make a list?"

"No, I want you to tell me when this all started."

"You forgot us. Me. The last thirty one years. Obviously they mean nothing to you."

"You know that isn't true, sweetheart."

"You forgot our anniversary, Will. You never forget! Then you left on a trip without me! All the way to Maine and you come back with that death trap of a motorcycle which you know I hate. Now you say you want to go skydiving. What is going on with you? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"Of course not."

"Then why are you doing this?"

He sat down and rubbed his hands through his gray hair. "I went to the doctor for my physical, Gracie."

"Yes, a few weeks ago. I remember."

"He told me that I need to lose weight, exercise more, and lower my cholesterol and my blood pressure. Basically, I'm a ticking time bomb."

"So you decide to take on all this dangerous stuff, why? So you can experience it before you die?"

"Basically."

"Will, there are so many things wrong here. Where do I even start?" She walked over and sat next to him. "Our vows that we said all those years ago meant everything to me."

"Me too."

"Part of the vows was that in sickness or in health, I am going to stand by you. That hasn't changed but I can't do that if you don't tell me what's going on."

"I'm sorry."

"Also, if you need to lose weight, I will cook healthier meals and we can exercise together. I could stand to lose too."

"You're perfect, Gracie." He had always told her that and it had always made her feel perfect, even though she was far from it.

"And the last thing, I need you to take that motorcycle back and promise you are never going to skydive. I cannot lose you anytime soon, Will."

"I will sell the motorcycle and we can use the money to go on a second honeymoon. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like heaven."

She stood and he followed, wrapping his warm, strong arms around her. "Come home to me, Gracie."

"No skydiving?"

"No skydiving," he told her before kissing the lips he felt like he had loved forever.

….

The next day, the wedding went off perfectly. William walked his oldest down the aisle and watched as his other daughters stood next to her and supported her.

Theresa was there, watching tearfully as her youngest son pledged to love, honor, and cherish Vi for the rest of his life. She was proud of him and the love she felt for him was stronger than ever.

At the reception, Jack leaned toward Beth. "Dance with me?" he whispered to her.

She smiled, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor. "You smell good," she said, nuzzling his neck.

"I love your mom and all but this has been the longest week."

"But you survived," she told him.

"Barely. It's all I can do not to pick you up and take you home right now," he told her, his lips dancing with hers briefly.

"Soon," she assured him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Soon ended up being three hours later but when they got home, she kicked off her shoes and headed for the fridge. She took out her Moose Tracks ice cream and scooped some into a bowl. Then she added hot fudge and grabbed the jar of pickles too.

When Jack came down to find her, she was sitting in the living room, a blanket over her lap, dipping her pickles in her hot fudge.

"Babe, that is disgusting."

"Actually, it's really good. Want a bite?"

"Nope. I was hoping we could head upstairs."

"Soon."

"Okay, well, I guess I'll go up there and wait."

When she walked in the bedroom about ten minutes later, she headed to the closet and changed out of her dress and wrapped a short silky robe around herself.

Jack smiled at her as she walked into the bathroom to go through her nightly routine.

The anticipation was driving him nuts so he walked in the bathroom just as she stepped into the shower.

"You wanna join me, husband?"

"Now that's a silly question."

….

Jack had to work late the next day so Beth headed over to Faith and Carson's to play with the baby and catch up with Faith after work.

When Beth walked in, she heard Faith singing. She found her in the living room nursing nine month old Colton.

"Hey," Beth said quietly, loving the sight of mother nurturing baby.

"Hey. Did you bring it?"

"Yep. I'll go grab the spoons." When she came back, Faith was standing and heading up the stairs. "Wait, can I hold him?" Faith turned back and handed the very sleepy little boy to Beth. Beth sat down and snuggled with him, enjoying the sweet baby scent of his hair and skin. "He smells so good."

"Yeah. Nothing like it." Faith watched Beth as she devoted her attention to Colton. "So, what's new?" she asked, taking a spoonful of ice cream.

"Did I tell you that my mom left my dad?"

"What? No!"

"Yeah. It lasted a week. Apparently he was having some sort of midlife crisis or something."

"Hm. Interesting."

"Yeah but now they are back together, as happy as ever."

"That's good."

"Got any pickles?" Beth asked.

"Pickles?"

"Yeah. To dip…." she said slowly, realizing what she had just suggested.

"Beth Thornton! Are you pregnant?"

"Maybe."

"Either that or you're looney tunes. No one eats pickles and ice cream unless they're pregnant."

"Ever try syrup on eggs? Delicious," Beth said with a laugh.

Faith's eyes traveled down to Beth's baggy t-shirt and stretchy pants. "When are you due?"

"June 5th!" Colton jerked awake. "Oh, sorry, baby. Shhhhh. Its okay."

"I'm so happy for you."

"Guess what else?"

"What?"

"Its twins."

Faith squealed this time and they both laughed when poor Colton woke up again. "Are you happy?"

"Deliriously," Beth confirmed. "But you can't tell anyone, Faith. Tom and Charlotte don't know yet and no one knows its twins except you."

"My lips are sealed."


	26. Chapter 26

A month later, the week before Christmas

Jack and Beth couldn't hide the pregnancy anymore. She was full blown showing. So the night his parents flew in from Seattle, they had them for dinner along with her parents and sisters and their husbands.

The Thatcher's all knew of the pregnancy but it was going to be a complete surprise for Charlotte and Tom.

When Jack brought his parents back to their house, everyone else was there in the living room.

Charlotte walked in and searched Beth out, missing her daughter-in-law dearly over the four months since the wedding. "Beth!" she said, holding her arms out and hugging her.

"Hi, Charlotte. Merry Christmas."

Charlotte moved back a moment later and looked down. "Beth?"

"Surprise." Beth couldn't help her huge smile. She felt great and had so much happiness in her that it just came out.

"Oh, I'm so excited!"

"We are too."

"Tom!" Charlotte bellowed. "They're having a baby!"

Tom smiled and gave Jack a hug. "Way to go, son!"

"Thanks, Dad." Beth caught a slight blush on Jack's face.

Beth got everyone's attention just before dinner. "Everyone, we have made some changes to the guest room/nursery. Follow me, please."

The whole group followed her and as they filed in the room with two cribs, it took a moment but then Charlotte shrieked. "Two babies!!! This is so wonderful!"

The doorbell rang during dinner so Jack went to see who it was.

"Lee, Rosemary, come in!"

"Hey, bro! Merry Christmas."

"Right back at you."

Beth walked in and smiled, giving Rosie a hug. "Are you hungry? We have plenty of food."

"Starving," Rosie told her. "But first, we have news."

Jack put his arm around Beth. "So do we."

"We got married," Rosemary blurted.

"You did?" Beth asked, shocked.

"Yeah. Yesterday and there is more."

"More?"

"I'm pregnant." Beth tried not to let her mouth hang open but she was completely shocked.

"Pregnant?"

"Yeah. About eight weeks."

"I don't know what to say."

"Congratulations!" Jack said, hugging them both. "We're pregnant too. With twins!"

"Beth! How could you not tell me?"

"Really? You get pregnant and then married and you are asking me that question?"

"Beth," Jack said, rubbing her back.

"No, Jack. This is…this is not her. I need to lie down." Beth walked to the master and sat down on the bed.

A moment later, she heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Beth."

"Rosie, this is not who you are. Your father was a pastor. You told me you would never be with a man until marriage."

"Things happen, Beth. I'm really scared here. I don't know how to be a mother."

"Neither do I! And I'm having two!"

They both burst out laughing. "I can't believe this. I didn't plan for this, Beth. But I love Lee with all of my heart and he will be a great father, I know it."

"I'm happy for you, I was just shocked. It was like an alien had taken over your body."

"It kinda did." That brought on another round of giggles. "And it's not coming out for another seven months."

…..

Christmas night…

Elizabeth lay back against Jack's chest on the couch where they sat in front of a nice fire. "I love the new ornament," she told him. Jack had given her a new ornament with four baby shoes to represent the twins and they had put it right next to their ornament from the year before.

"I'm glad." He kissed her temple and put his hands on her belly. "I can't wait to meet them."

"I think we need to wait to find out the genders. Are you okay with that?"

"I was hoping we would find out and then pick names."

"I just feel like it's the best surprise. You could be the one to tell me what they are, instead of the doctor."

"That does sound pretty cool."

She kissed his cheek. "We have time to decide."

They ended up talking until midnight and then headed upstairs to bed, thankful for a wonderful holiday filled with love and family.

The next few weeks went by fast. About mid-January, on a Saturday, Jack's staff contracted some sort of flu and everyone but Clara called in sick.

"I can help," Elizabeth told him as they were eating breakfast.

"I could use a waitress. I wonder if Rosie would help too."

"Can't hurt to ask. I'll call her." Elizabeth dialed her number.

"Hey, Beth."

"Hey, Rosie. How are you this morning?"

"Fine. You?"

"Good. Jack needs a favor. Pretty much all of his staff called in because they have the flu. Is there any way you can help?"

"Lee asked me to be his sous chef. I'll definitely be there."

"Great. Thanks!"

Jack was able to get Tom's fiancé Katie to waitress too so they were going to be fine.

When they opened for brunch, everything seemed good. As the orders started coming in though, Lee realized that maybe working next to Rosie might not have been the best plan.

Elizabeth brought in an order. "Eggs Benedict, hash browns, table two."

"Got it," Rosie said, snapping up the ticket.

"I got the eggs, you got the potatoes?" Lee asked her.

"I got both, Lee." He watched her cracking the eggs and chopping the potatoes at top speed. Speed was good but he was afraid she was going to also chop a finger or two.

"Sweetheart, you can slow down," he told her.

"I got it, Lee."

Jack snickered and popped the Steak and Eggs chef's special on the serving counter. "Order up," he called.

Clara walked in and grabbed the special and took it out to the dining room. "Thanks, Chef."

Elizabeth walked in again. "Crepes with fresh fruit and Chorizo, spinach, goat cheese omelet. Table eight."

"Got it," Rosie yelled as she added hollandaise sauce to her eggs benedict.

"I got it," Lee said, grabbing the ticket. "You aren't finished with yours yet."

Rosie gave him a look but didn't say anything.

"Order up!" she yelled, shoveling potatoes on the plate.

"I'll do the omelet," she said, adding chorizo to the cast iron pan and chopping it. She was also watching Lee with the crepes.

"That's not thin enough, Lee."

"It's fine, Rosie."

"No it's not. It's more like a pancake."

"Rosie, I make crepes all the time. I am the one that went to culinary school."

"Fine," she told him, clamping her mouth shut. She started wilting the spinach in another pan along with the goat cheese.

Jack caught Lee's eye and raised his eyebrows. Lee shook his head and continued with the crepes. Lee knew he would need to apologize to Rosie for his harsh words but right now, they were busy and the customers came first.

Elizabeth came in, grabbing the eggs benedict and hash browns. Jack stopped her and gave her a kiss. "Love you."

"Love you too," she told him, walking back in the dining room with a smile on her face.

They closed at 9pm and to Rosie, it couldn't have come fast enough. She cleaned up her station, disinfecting it and then took off her apron and walked outside.

Lee knew it was going to be an interesting and hard conversation they were going to have.

"Why don't you go, Lee? I can clean up your station," Jack offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Thanks, bro."

"See you Monday."

Elizabeth came in the kitchen and started cleaning too. "Elizabeth, you don't have to do that. You should rest."

"I'm fine. Plus, the quicker we get done, the quicker we can go home."

"True, yes." He smiled at her. "Thanks for helping today."

"Glad to do it." She patted her apron pocket. "I made a bundle in tips."

….

Lee got in the car and drove to their house, Rosie silent in the seat next to him. As they walked in the door, he took her hand and slowed her down. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry."

She wiped her cheeks and nodded. "I'm tired. I need to go to bed."

"We can't go to bed without making up. We promised."

"Lee, it's fine."

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have said what I said."

"But?"

"I don't know if we should work together anymore."

"Look, I know I'm pushy but you knew that about me. You married me anyway."

"Of course I did. I love you, Rosie. I don't care if you're pushy but something happened when you came into my kitchen and tried to take over. It felt like you were invading my space."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry that I felt that way. I want you near me." He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "As near as possible."

She smiled and inhaled his aftershave on his neck. "Just not in the kitchen?"

"Something like that." He tipped her chin up and kissed her. "Forgive me?"

"Come on. I know a way you can make it up to me." She took his hand and led him into the master.

….

On Sunday, Elizabeth slept in and Jack made them breakfast in bed. She had been on a maple syrup kick so he made Belgian waffles and lots of bacon, adding whipped cream and maple syrup and then cringing as he added a pickle to the plate.

He wandered into the bedroom and sat her plate on the table next to her. She didn't move an inch. He bent down to kiss her lips. "Morning, wife."

"Mm. Something smells good."

"You."

"I smell bacon." She sat up and yawned, tucking her curls behind her ear.

He handed her the plate. "I added a pickle."

"Perfect." She dipped her pickle in the syrup and whipped cream and took a bite. "So good."

He shook his head and took his plate to his side of the bed. "I thought maybe we could go out to dinner and a movie tonight. What do you think?"

"Oh yeah. I want to see that new Chris Evans movie. He's so cute."

"Really?"

"Mmm." She took a bite of waffles and syrup and then pickle. "Don't worry, you are much hotter than him."

"Nice save."

She grinned. "I thought so."

"I wonder how last night went for Lee and Rosie."

"What do you mean?"

"They got into it a little in the kitchen yesterday. Last I knew, she had walked out and not talked to him."

"What did he do?"

"Why must it be him?" he asked curiously. "It could have been Rosie. She's a bit much sometimes."

"She's my best friend, Jack."

"I know but you know how she is. She takes over every room she's in, even the kitchen at the bistro, and she's really dramatic."

"So?"

"So, she can be a bit much."

"Lee must not care. He married her."

"True but after yesterday, I'm even more glad I married you."

"I'm trying to see the positivity in that statement but really, it just sounds judgmental of Rosie. And that is strange coming from you." She put her plate aside and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

He sighed and walked in the bathroom after her. "Elizabeth."

"Can I get some privacy, Jack? Please."

"Fine. But we need to talk about this. I don't want my first fight with you to be about Rosemary."

She didn't want to fight with him at all but there it was.

When she emerged from the bathroom, he was waiting on the bed. She sighed and sat down next to him. "Jack, I'm sorry I got so defensive. I do know how Rosie is."

"I was being judgemental though. I'm sorry for that," he told her. "I don't want us to fight."

"Me either." She leaned against his shoulder. "I have heard though, that the best part of fighting is the making up."

"I've heard that too."


	27. Chapter 27

Four and a half years later

Jack dropped Lorenzo and Sophia off at preschool before heading to The Bistro. He had big news for Lee and he couldn't wait to run it past him.

"Bye, Daddy!" the twins said in unison as they walked through the door to their classroom.

"Bye, guys. Love you!" he said before walking back out to his truck.

Elizabeth left her gynecologist's office feeling overwhelmed and excited all at once. They had been trying for a few months and finally she had a positive test. Now she was confirmed pregnant and she couldn't wait to surprise Jack with the news at their 5th anniversary party the following week.

She nibbled on crackers and sipped ginger ale as she drove to Cambridge Pediatrics. When she parked behind the building, she shoved her crackers and soda into her bag and headed inside.

"Good morning, Doctor Thornton," Hazel greeted from her receptionist desk.

"Good morning, Hazel."

"You've got three appointments scheduled for this morning. Doc Hammond will be in at noon."

"That's when I'll take my lunch then."

"Are you actually going to eat today?"

"Sassy, I see."

"Well, what can I say? You bring it out in me."

"Mm hm."

"I mean, truthfully, I'm beginning to wonder if we are having a repeat of a few years back."

Elizabeth put her hot pink stethoscope around her neck and smiled innocently.

"You know, when you would sleep in your office on lunch."

"I was tired."

"And pregnant."

"True."

Hazel leaned against her door, a smile on her face. "So, are you?"

"Yes, but you can't tell, Hazel. Promise."

Hazel squealed like a woman half her age. "Yay! My lips are sealed."

The Bistro

"Hey, bro. How's it going?" Lee asked.

"Good. Just dropped Soph and Enzo off at school and now I'm here. How are you?"

"Good. Rosie is home with Shawn today. His ears are bugging him. Looks like he might be going to see Dr. Thornton before the day is up."

"Poor Shawn."

"Yeah. He's had a cold so usually that affects his ears."

"Okay, Lee, I have big news and I need your input, being my partner and all."

"Alright. Lay it on me."

"They accepted our offer in New York City. The Bistro is officially going to have restaurant number two by next summer."

"Wow."

"That's all you got? Wow?"

"Well, yeah. Right now, that's all I got."

"I thought you'd be excited. You said you and Rosie wanted a change. That you'd run it."

"I know. I guess I may have spoken too soon. Any chance you and Beth might want to make a change?"

"I don't know. The kids have their friends and cousins and aunts and uncles here. I'm not sure moving is the best idea."

When he got home, he heard the usual chatter from his four year olds as they "helped" Beth cook dinner.

He walked in and held a bouquet of daisies out in front of him. "Hey guys."

"Daddy!" they yelled, running over to him and tackling his knees.

"Whoa! How was school?"

"Fun! We painted with our fingers!" Lorenzo said excitedly. "And we made a biiig mess. And nobody got mad!"

He chuckled. "Oh yeah?"

"Yup." He climbed back up on his chair.

"And you, little miss? What did you do?"

"Ummm...I made a picture. Of us." She took his hand and led him to the refrigerator where it was hanging. "See?"

"Yes! Very good, sweetheart. I see me and Mommy and you and Enzo but who is this?"

"That's our dog."

"We don't have a dog, baby." Jack's dog Shrimp had died a few years back.

"Not yet! Can we get one? Please?" she begged.

"I'll have to talk to Mommy about that."

"Okay. I'll go over here and you can talk." She climbed up on the chair next to her brother.

Jack walked over to Elizabeth and gave her a lingering kiss. "Hi, hon."

"Hey."

"After the kids are in bed, we need to talk. Fire and a glass of wine?"

"Make it tea and I'll be there."

"Okay. Tea it is." He kissed her again and headed to take a shower.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, Enzo?"

"My tummy doesn't feel good!"

She rushed over with a trash can and barely made it before he threw up. Then he started crying.

"Its okay, Enzo. I bet you feel a little better now, don't you?"

"Noooooo," he wailed.

She picked him up and carried him to the bathroom he and Sophia shared.

She lifted the toilet lid and put him down beside it. "If you need to throw up again, do it in the potty."

"I don't wanna do it again!"

"I know, bud. I'm sorry you're sick."

Jack and Elizabeth didn't get to talk that night because by bedtime, neither kid was feeling good.

The next few days were filled with illness and eating bananas and applesauce and exhaustion for Elizabeth.

Thankfully, having worked in the public with sick kids, she had a strong immune system and didn't catch it.

By the time they had a chance to talk, a week had passed and they were at The Bistro for their anniversary dinner.

Vi, Matthew and their two year old daughter Sidnee were at Jack and Elizabeth's with the twins.

Elizabeth hid her secret well in a flattering striped blue and white sundress while Jack looked handsome in his dark pants and a light blue button down.

As they sat down in a secluded booth in the corner, Jack put his arm around her and gave her a kiss. "Happy Anniversary, babe."

"Right back at you." She kissed him back and smiled. "Handsome."

"So, I thought maybe we could talk about something."

"Okay. I'm all ears."

"Um, well I got word from the realtors in New York."

"Oh! About the restaurant site?"

"Yes and we got it."

"Oh, honey! That's wonderful. Is Lee excited? I can't believe Rosie hasn't said anything."

"Well, that's the thing."

"What?"

"They don't really want to move."

Elizabeth's stomach churned. He couldn't possibly be suggesting what…

She stood, took his hand and led him through the kitchen to his office.

"Beth? What's happening?"

"Are you saying that we are going to move?"

"Well, no. Not exactly. I mean I wanted to talk…" he stopped talking as she rushed to his trash can and vomited. "Oh no! Did you catch the flu?"

"No. I'm not sick." She sat down and took a few breaths. "I'm overwhelmed. I mean I'm about to be a mother of four and my husband wants us to move to New York where we have no family or friends!"

"I'm sorry, what, babe?"

"I'm pregnant, Jack!"

"Pregnant?! That's great! We are going to have another baby!"

"No."

"No? I'm confused."

"Two, Jack. I'm having twins. Again. Apparently we can't do something normal like have one baby at a time."

"Whoa." He sat down too, holding his head in his hands. "Wow, I can't believe it."

"Happy Anniversary."

He looked up at her expression. She didn't seem happy. He moved his chair next to hers and took her hand. "Babe? I thought you wanted another baby."

"I do! I want two, even."

"So what's wrong?"

"Do you really want to move?"

"I may have thought about it for a minute but now...with two more babies coming I'm not so sure. I'm going to be working long hours and you'd have to find a position somewhere and we'd need a bigger house and sell this one. And by the time we move, the babies will be here."

She knew it wasn't an ideal situation but the twins would be in kindergarten next fall and she didn't have to work right away. She could be home with the babies. It would be cheaper than daycare.

"Beth?"

"Let's pray about it and see what happens."

Praying helped and before they knew it, other things kept falling into place. For instance, Vi's husband Matt was hired in at the NYPD so they were moving too. That sealed the deal for Beth.

Also, as the summer turned into fall, Charlotte and Bill decided to retire closer to family so they took the suggestion Jack made and decided to move to New York too.

Jack made the four and a half hour trip to the new restaurant a couple times a month and while there, he scoped out a four bedroom brownstone that seemed perfect for them.

So as they tied up her job duties in Cambridge and she became closer to her due date in early spring, they put their house up for sale.

In late February, Beth went into early labor, a month before the scheduled C-section.

Rosie and Lee took the girls home with them while the Thatchers and Jack took Beth into the hospital.

By that afternoon, Matteo Joseph and Antonio David were born, holding to the italian name theme.

The babies grew fast and by May, Beth was healed enough and ready to make their final trip to Brooklyn where they would be living.

Jack carried the two car seats up the steps of their home while Beth and the older kids walked behind.

"This is our house, Mommy?" Enzo asked.

"Yes it is. What do you think?"

"Its big! And tall!"

"Yes it is."

"And I get my own room?"

"Yes you do. You get a room, Soph gets a room and the babies too."

"What about Grammy and Papa?"

"They live right next door."

"Cool!"

Thankfully, the movers disbursed all the boxes to the correct rooms so that unpacking the three floor home didn't seem quite so daunting.

Jack walked into the living room, the twin boys in his arms. "So what do you think, Beth?"

"Its perfect, Jack. Our life is exactly what I'd always dreamed it would be."

She was grateful that she had met the handsome diner chef that day about six years before and he was grateful for the beautiful pediatrician that loved his food.

THE END

This is the end of this story! Thank you for your support and encouragement as I shared my musings with you.

Also, thanks to my good buddy Kristine for your help and brainstorming sessions.


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